


The Tale of the Wondrous Greckles & The Runaway Ninja

by FieryBlitz



Category: The Unexpectables (Podcast)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:15:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 47,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23595199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FieryBlitz/pseuds/FieryBlitz
Summary: When last we left our heroes...Borky the Orc Barbarian, Greckles the Kenku Rouge, Panic the Tiefling Bard, Task the Kobold Ranger, and Remy the Kenku Fighter...The Party has returned from their long journey, having fell the Dragon Cult and their leader, Darkus, in a climactic battle with Task finally felling his life-long hated enemy and avenging the Iron-Oath Kobold Clan, now going by the name 'Task of Alivast'.Exhausted, the party now settles in for the winter, blissfully unaware of that another adventure would soon start for them. Especially for a certain Kenku Rogue...
Kudos: 5





	1. It’s just an interview, right?

“So how do I look, fellas?” Said the Orc Barbarian to me and my friends. “I mean I know I look snazzy an’ all, but I’ve gotten so paranoid that I made myself look unprofessional.”

“We told you several times now, Borky,” I spoke to him, clearly annoyed with his antics, “You look FINE. I have no idea why you decided to dress up like this, but it’s FINE.” I tell him, emphasising that he looks fine. For whatever reason, he’s wearing a pair of glasses and a red necktie to try and make himself professional. Even though he’s still dressed up in his usual attire. Which was to say, he has no shirt on at all. Just a cape over one shoulder with the Sweet Dragon’s logo for brand marketing, a shoulder guard on the other, and a pair of pants. His armor was back up in his room.

Heck, all four of us have put away our equipment since we returned from our journey to the Mountain of Repetition. Finding a new friend in a Construct Cleric named Object-8, Task’s time traveling, which we’re all still trying to wrap our heads around, a fight with the Blood Orcs to stop them from killing the Silver Kobolds, and that big jail break and taking down Task’s sworn enemy, the Dragon Cult’s leader Darkus.

Needless to say, it was especially stressful for us and we agreed that we deserve this long overdue break from adventuring. Our Friend Remy decided to go visit his family for a while, and the rest of us stayed here in our home, the Sweet Dragon. A humble tavern, to oversimplify it.

And right now, we are in the middle of interviews for new employees for our tavern. We’ve gone through quite a few of them, and sadly lost one during a previous invasion, our day shift guard. But it was thanks to his sacrifice that many of our employees were safe.

“Okay, let’s see what we went through.” A red-scale Kobold spoke. Task, our Ranger. Angriest of us all, but he really saved our butts when my friends and I were taken prisoner. He was going through several papers he was holding in his hands. “A black scale Dragonborn obsessed with lifting weights, a Tiefling Bard with a bigger lebido than our own Tiefling Bard here...”

“Pssssh, I don’t need the competition.” The Tiefling Bard that was with us snarked. Panic Grimtongue, self-proclaimed greatest musician in Alivast. A real ladies man, and I say that with no sarcasm. “Also, how dare you, I am a Tiefling of culture.”

“A halfling that likes to carry weapons physically bigger than himself, to debatable success,” Task ignored Panic and kept going, “There was some kind of Half-Orc Fighter named Takeo that was supposed to come today, but he never showed up. Welp, his loss.” He crumpled up the application and tossed it behind him. Somehow, the mad lad managed to get it to land in the trash bin. Nice shot. “Last one is some kid named Toko Tanaka.”

“That’s a strange name if I ever heard one.” Panic commented, leaning over to see what the application sheet said, “What do we know about this Tanaka fellow?”

“Well, it says here that Toko Tanaka is a human female. 15 of age, and she wants to apply for housekeeping and kitchen duty. She’s the daughter of a merchant that travelled all the way to Alivast from the Eastern Isles via trade ship. She wants to experience the western world and gain some experience working. Hmm...” He lowered the paper and looked to all of us, “I dunno about this, guys. We’re looking for a daytime guard to replace Luistrog, Gods rest his soul. I don’t think we need another cook in the kitchen.”

“Well I mean, to be fair, we’ve only got Tai Borpington as our chef.” Panic replied, “I’d imagine having an extra pair of hands might just ease some of the burden for him a bit.”

“And besides, we’ve got more than enough to hire more than one person, right? And if we don’t like ‘em, we can just send out word that we’re still lookin’ to hire people.” Borky spoke up as well, still adjusting his necktie. “I say we give this here lass a chance. What do you think, Greckles?”

“Honestly, I’m kind of suspicious about this.” I tell everybody what I think about this, “Tanaka is a pretty common surname, to the point where it’s been favored as a name for placeholders, like those weird human names John Smith and Jane Doe. It’s generic enough to not draw attention.” I go silent and look at my friends, who were looking at me as if I was being paranoid, “Or we can interview her and completely ignore the bird that’s trying to be smart and keep everybody safe, that works too.”

“Aw, thank ya, Greks.” Borky smiled and gave me a hearty smack on the back, making me jerk forward and let out a loud, painful grunt. Come on, even Task and Panic could tell I was being sarcastic.

“It’s going to be fine, Greckles.” Task told me, “If Toko turns out to be somebody dangerous, we’ll kick her ass and kick her out of the establishment. Not the first time we’ve been fooled, and we’ve been fooled by far worse than this. If anything, having you being cautious shows we have nothing to worry about.” After fiddling with the application a bit, it vanished in a puff of magic smoke.

After a few minutes, a small girl slowly opens the door and pokes her head inside, looking around a bit to see us looking back at her. “Eep!” She yelped and quickly backed out, closing the door. We looked at eachother with quizzical expressions before the door opened back up and the girl came inside… wearing a bunny mask over her face. She was carrying a small bag with her.

“Wut?” Said Borky with confusion.

“I’m sorry?” Said Panic, with a face that showed he’s trying to not crack up laughing.

“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” Said Task, smacking a hand over his face.

“Oh boy, here we go.” I grumbled under my breath, trying to not laugh myself. Of all the weirdos we had to interview today, this small child managed to be the weirdest by simply hiding her face.

“H-H-Hello.” The girl said and bowed to us before taking a seat in front of us. “I-I’m Toko Tanaka. It’s mice to neet you.” There was a beat, and she raised her hands up and waved them back and forth as she realized what she said, “I-I mean it’s nice to meet you! Nice to meet you!” Followed by her facepalming with both hands, “Oh no, I’m already screwing up...”

“Relax.” I tell her, “It’s not the first time we’ve met with timid people.” Carefully, I examined her appearance. Pink short skirt kimono, black kneehigh socks, a pair of leather boots, and her black hair was tied back into a long ponytail. And she’s incredibly small, probably no taller than 5 feet and 1 inch, or roughly around 154 centimeters. No doubt thin, and thus below 127 lbs. At the very least I can say she meets the requirements of being a ninja, but there’s nothing to prove that she actually is one. For all I know, she really is just a timid yamato nadeshiko. “My name is Greckles. This is Borky.” I gestured a hand to the orc looking at a fly and trying to swat it away. I gestured another hand to Task and Panic. “This is Task, and the Tiefling next to him is Panic Grimtongue.”

“Stupid fly. Go away.” Borky grumbled, not paying attention to the interview at all.

“Task of Alivast.” Task said with his arms folded. “What’s up with the mask?”

“Oh, m-my mask?” Toko listed a hand to her mask before lowering it back onto her lap. “I-It’s something I use when I talk to people. I get really scared when I try to talk to strangers, to the point where I would fall silent. My father bought this for me to help overcome that. He hopes I’ll work up the courage to talk to others without it.”

I intensify my gaze to try and assess her. Her hands are shaking, but that’s probably from how nervous she was. I can’t get any signs of her face thanks to that stupid mask. I inhale through my nose and slowly exhale through my mouth. I can’t get a read on her at all, and it’s driving me crazy enough to make my plumage want to poof out.

“That’s fair.” Task simply shrugged, “So I guess that girl who yelped just a moment ago was you?”

“... Yes.” Toko hesitated to answer that. From the tone of her voice, she was clearly embarrassed about that. “That was me. I tried to do this without my mask and I freaked out.”

Panic chuckled a bit, “Well, if it’s any consultation, you were brave to at least try. Just don’t let this discourage you from trying again in the future.”

“Th-Thank you.” She bowed respectfully to him.

“So where does your father work, exactly?” Panic asked her, “Your application said that you were a merchant’s daughter. Have you been here for very long?”

Toko shook her head, “N-No, we’ve only arrived here about two weeks ago. He runs a stall in the Lower General District, selling fruits, vegetables, and herbs. Just do yourselves a favor and stay away from his carrots.”

“Uhhhh, why?” I asked with a raised eyebrow, “Is there something wrong with his carrots?”

“Um… Uh...” Toko stuttered, unable to come up with an answer. She lowered her head with a sigh and came out with it, “I’m not fond of carrots. They hurt my stomach.”

“Snrk…!” I quickly looked away with one of my talons on my beak. She’s intolerant to carrots. I can actually relate to that. “Rin, Hyou, Tou,” I started to calm myself by using the Kuji-In, or ‘Nine Cuts’, a series of hand signs that ninjas would help calm themselves down in intense situations. I also use it when using my arcane magic, but that’s beside the point, “Sha, Kai, Jin, Retsu, Zai, Zen.” With the last hand gesture, I take another, longer deep breath, and relax. “If it makes you feel any better, Toko, I can sympathize with how you feel about carrots.”

“Oh right, you’re lactose intolerant.” Borky spoke up. I immediately look at him with a dirty glare. Gods damn it, Borky! I was trying to keep it vague so she didn’t have a weakness she could potentially exploit!

“I’m so sorry, Mr. Greckles. I won’t include any dairy in your meals.” She said to me, bowing once more. How awfully respectful. Although I don’t sense anything from her that could come off as her lying.

“So I has a question for ya, Ms. Toko.” Borky leaned forward, his chin resting on his hand and intensifying his glare. “Why did you lie to us?”

“L-L-Lie!?” Toko tensed up, looking at all of us before looking to Borky, “Wh-Wh-What are you talking about!? I haven’t lied at all!”

Task, Panic, and myself look to Borky with extremely serious looks on our faces. In this intense moment of truth, where the air is so tense that I could cut it with my kunai; which was better for digging and not cutting, Borky spoke up, “Task said you was a human. But you got like, rabbit ears, rabbit whiskers, your entire _face_ is a rabbit. You’d think I wouldn’t notice something so obvious!?”

“PFFFFFFT HA HA HA HA!!” I immediately burst out in laughter, throwing myself back so hard that I fell off my seat and onto the floor with one of my feet still on the chair.

“For crying out loud, Borky!” Panic exclaimed, throwing his hands up before facepalming and breaking out into laughter himself.

Task, on the other hand, was understandably pissed off at this, “God dammit, Borky! She said she’s wearing a mask because she’s shy! Weren’t you paying attention!?”

Borky was silent, looking at Task, then to Toko, and then back to Task. “... Maybe.” I was in great abdominal pain. It’s as if a god whispered into his ear and said: ‘she is a liar, she is obviously a rabbit.’

“That was too close...” That, however, made me stop laughing immediately and look at Toko. She was looking away with a hand on her chest, almost like she had let out a sigh of relief. Now that was suspicious. There’s no doubt in my mind, she’s hiding something. But should I press her, or let her be for now to see if there was anything else she’s hiding?

… No, if I press her now, it’ll make the interview too uncomfortable for her and she might try to flee, and there goes any chances of what she’s scheming. I brushed myself off and returned to my seat. “Ignoring Borky for the moment, how much experience do you have with housekeeping and cooking?” I asked her.

“P-P-Plenty, Mr. Greckles.” Toko answered, immediately snapping her attention toward me and sitting upright. “I’ve developed these skills whenever I helped my father run his business, and I had to be the one that cooked our meals. You’d hate his creations, they always come out as spicy abominations.” She leaned over to pick up her bag and pulled out four small rectangular boxes. Wait a minute, those are bento boxes. “I made some samples for you to try. I hope you like them.” She handed each box to us. A black bento to Panic, red bento to Task, a blue bento for myself, and a green bento for Borky.

Okay, this is REALLY suspicious. These boxes matched the color of our bodies. Did she keep it color coordinated so she would remember which bento box would go to whom? What if this was a trap and she was going to kill us by poisoning us? No way. I can’t do this. I have to call her out right--

“Oh boy, a cheese sandwich!” Borky announced with stars twinkling in his eyes. He was holding, sure enough, a cheese sandwich with lettuce tomato, and in olive stuck to a toothpick. He begins to eat at the sandwich like a lion devouring its prey. “OM NOM NOM NOM!!”

“Borky, noooooooooo!!” I shouted to him, reaching a hand out.

“Holy shit, this is delicious!” Borky shouted again with a huge smile on his face. “The ingredients are so fresh, and the cheese! My God, the cheese! Aged to perfection! Is this cheddar? This is some of the best damn cheddar I’ve had in my life.”

  
“Th-Thank you so much!” Toko immediately stood up and bowed to him, but then she looked over to me. “Is something wrong, Mr. Greckles? You’re acting very strange.”

“... No. No, everything is fine.” I settled back down and looked down at my bento box, opening to reveal three pieces of kraken sushi. I look to my other side to see Task and Panic eating their samples. Task had some kind of meat sampler involving ham, steak, beef, and chicken, among some other kind of game. For Panic, I couldn’t tell what he got from over here. But I can see that it might have fruit and veggies as I saw him snacking on a strawberry and a piece of lettuce. A fruit salad, maybe?

Everything seems to be fine. Although I was still looking at the sushi with caution, I picked up a piece and carefully examined it for any signs that it was tampered with. Come to think of it, where did she get the Kraken? Isn’t this kind of expensive for a merchant daughter to get on a whim, much less for an interview?

Ah, screw it. I shrug and take a bite, seeing how the others weren’t affected at all. It was at that moment that my chewing slowed and my eyes widened. Holy Gods, this was delicious! It’s just like what I would sometimes get at Mr. Bwakkaw’s Tiger Restaurant! I look at the half-eaten sushi and quickly scarf it down. If we hired Toko on as a fellow cook, I could probably have this more regularly. Before I knew it, I had eaten the other two pieces. When I was done, I stood up from my seat and held the bento box up to the heavens. “ _SUGOOOI!!_ ” I shouted with delight, speaking in Avian.

… There was silence in the air. I looked around to see everybody giving me weird looks. Even Toko, and I can’t see her face at all! “U-Um… I-I’m glad you liked it, M-Mr. Greckles.”

I cleared my throat and sat back down. “F-Forgive me. It’s been a while since I had food this good.” That was a rather half-assed way of saving face after that little outburst of joy. It was still some damn good sushi though.

“Don’t worry, I tend to get that kind of reaction. But thank you regardless.” Toko bowed to me. Stranegly though, she didn’t take her eyes off me when she was bowing to me. She didn’t do that for the others. Is she on to me? Is she aware that I’m suspicious of her?

“I think that’s all of our questions.” Task spoke up, closing his bento box and returning it to Toko. “Is there anything you’d like to ask of us?”

“Y-Yes.” Toko said with a nod, “What hours does the Sweet Dragon usually run? I didn’t see the work hours advertised.”

“Really?” Task raised and eyebrow and pondered on that for a bit, “Fuck, I knew I was forgetting something. I’m off my game today.” He shook his head and handwaved the thought away before looking back to the girl, “We open at around nine in the morning and close at ten in the evening. Will that be a problem for you?”

“No, not at all. That’s all I wanted to know.” Toko said, getting off her seat and bowing to us. “I have to get going now. My father is probably worried, thinking I was gone longer than expected. Thank you for the interview.”

“Hey, it’s no problem. We’ll be in contact.” Task reached out and shook her hand.

“Tell your father we said hello, and that he’s done his best to raise you right.” Panic said with a smile, getting a giggle out of the masked teenager.

“Stupid fly, you embarrassed me.” Borky grumbled as he was still trying to swat away the fly that’s been bugging him this entire interview.

I chose to remain silent and simply gave her a nod and a smile, watching as she waved to us and left through the front door. I took in a VERY deep breath and let out a heavy sigh. Deciding to not beat around the bush, I spoke up and told the others plainly, “We can’t hire her. I heard her mumble something about it being ‘too close’ when Borky said she was lying and thought she was a… r-rabbit...” I had to struggle a bit to contain my laughter before continuing, “Furthermore, when she bowed to me, she kept looking at me. In my home country, you only do that when showing respect to their opponent so that they don't risk getting sneak attacked. She’s not being honest with us and has something to hide. I’m also pretty sure she knew I was suspicious of her.”

“Awww, but Greks!” Borky spoke up, “She made us food and everything. It was the best damn cheese sandwich I’ve had in my life!” Pretty sure that was the first time you’ve ever had a cheese sandwich, Borky.

“If you’re that suspicious, you could follow her.” Panic suggested, holding up his bento box, “I mean, Task was the only one to return his lunch box. So if you get caught, you have an excuse to get you out of there.” He said to me with a grin and wiggling his brows.

That was true. Toko made the mistake of leaving the bento boxes that she gave Panic, Borky, and myself. I had the perfect excuse to go after her and confirm my suspicions. “Thanks Panic. I’ll let you know what I discover.” I smiled at my Tiefling friend and took his box, as well as Borky and stacked them on top of my box and tied a quick rope knot to keep them together.

“Greckles, just think of it this way.” Before I left, Task spoke up, prompting me to look back to him, “If we do hire her, you’ll be able to keep an eye on her, and we can fire her if it turns out your suspicions are right. Be careful out there, alright?”

“Will do.” I smile and give him a quick thumbs up before I leave with the bento boxes in hand. I squinted my eyes as they were greeted by the bright sun reflecting off of the snow covered ground. A sheet of white as far as I could see. It didn’t take long for my eyes to adjust, a matter of seconds in fact. I looked to my sides to see Toko already having a bit of a head. But this was odd. She’s not going toward the General District. Where was she going?

Keeping a safe distance from her, I followed after her, keeping it cool and strolling casually. Any time I lost track of her, I would ask some of the passers-by if they saw Toko and they pointed me in the right direction, and it wouldn’t be long before I found her and started to follow after her again. It helped that she’s wearing an outfit not often seen in Alivast.

I followed her all the way into the Lower Clergy District. Either Toko has business here, or she was lying about her background. Considering Alivast was still rebuilding from a previous incident my friends and I got involved in, there were no doubt lots of people without homes and sought salvation. But still…

I continued to track her. Past the Orun Temple, which she looked at with some disdain for a moment. Don’t think that scowl and grit went unnoticed on me, missy. I kept after her until we reached the… Hoketh Temple? What the heck? What business would she have here? It’s been abandoned for some time now. I can even see the boards still nailed to block off entry through the windows and door. Toko went around the building. I followed suit, stopping at just around the corner to see her approach a stack of barrels, climbing onto the top and looking up at a hole in the hole. Wait, what is she doing?

She jumped up, reaching her arms up to grab the ledge and, with incredible agility and deftness, pulled up with no problems and climbed through the whole. Excuse me? Did I see that right? I lifted up my hat and rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn’t seeing things. I was, in fact, not seeing things. I quickly followed after her, repeated the same maneuvers she used to get through the hole. I climbed down a flight of stairs and turned the corner--

Strike that, I immediately back away and hide behind the corner! I carefully poked my head around the corner. There was Toko, walking across the main hall of this temple to a small little camp on the other side. A tent to one side, a hammock on the other, and between them was a campfire, still burning, albeit the flame is on the small side. I could see the small girl pick up some broken pieces of wood and toss it on the fire. It didn’t seem to give her the effect she wanted, only getting a little bit bigger. She crouched down and…

“Hyou, Kai, Retsu! Katon no Jutsu!” My mouth dropped as I overheard her. She made three hand gestures from the Kuji-In before raising them to her mouth and gently blew out fire from her mouth and into the campfire, causing the campfire to come to life and burn bright. No way. She’s a shinobi!? Wait a minute, why is she hiding out in an abandoned temple? There were plenty of places for her to seek refuge in. Well, one thing is certain. She’s most definitely lied to me and my friends during the interview.

For now, I decided to wait for her to drop her guard. It might be a while. She crawled into her tent and got out what seemed to be a small box filled with small brown balls and began to eat them. Wait… Was that Hyougaran? There’s no way that’s going to keep her satiated for very long. They were short-term rations at best.

It looks like I was going to be here for a while. Might as well make myself comfortable. I sat down in fudouza, the ‘immovable seat’ and simply continued to observe Toko’s activities. It was just mundane things, at least as much as a seemingly homeless shinobi is capable of. Checking the fire every so often, going through her belongings; which I can’t help but notice that she pulled out a few darts from the sleeve of her kimono, as well as a pair of daggers. She even got a kodachi out of her tent and pulled it out to check its condition before sheathing it and storing it away. She stretched her arms before standing up and walking over to the hammock, climbing into it and relaxed to look up to the large hole in the ceiling.

This was my chance. I got up and quietly approached her, making three hand gestures of my own, "Uzure-Gakure No Jutsu..." and vanished into thin-air. Invisibility. Got to love arcane magic. I might be a shinobi like her, but I was far more experienced, and being an Arcane Trickster didn’t hurt either.

Since she wouldn’t be able to see me, I decided to get up close. She’s convinced that she’s alone. Her rabbit mask was resting in her hand and on her chest. I could see her face, and her pink eyes. Strange eye color, especially for a human. She was just looking up at the hole, her expression stoic. There wasn’t anything that showed her being cautious.

Let’s spook her a bit, shall we? “Merchant’s Daughter, huh?” I spoke up. She gasped and immediately stood up and rolled out of the hammock, making a run for the tent. Too bad for her, I was right behind her, dropping by invisibility and drew one of my magic daggers, Nick, holding it in reverse grip and grabbed her shoulder from behind. I put the dagger at her neck and pulled back, prompting her to pull back as soon as she felt cold steel touching her flesh. She slowly stood up and raised her hands in surrender. She knew for a fact that she was caught. “You have a lot of explaining to do, young lady.”

“... What gave me away?” She asked me. Her tone was serious. But also a little… sad? I shrugged it off. She might be planning to play mind games with me.

“You used a placeholder name as your surname.” I told her, “You might be able to fool common folk and just about everybody here in Alivast, but that was practically a red flag for anybody who knows their Yo-Nin, the art of open infiltration.” I paused for a moment to see how she was going to react. She was holding her position. “Furthermore, you gave us bento boxes that matched our body colors, as if you needed some kind of visual cue to see who was meant for which box. Of course, you also mumbled ‘that was too close’ when Borky thought you were an actual rabbit. Too close for what, I wonder?” I paused again. She remained silent and lowered her head. I leaned a bit closer to get a closer look at her face. She was biting her lower lip. It was the face of a shinobi who knew for a fact that they screwed up very badly.

“Who are you, really?” I start interrogating her, starting with her true identity. “You can’t lie your way out of this one. At this point, a Shinobi can only expect death if they try to pull a fast one.”

“... Toko Amagi.” She answered.

“What are you doing here?” I asked her, “And where do you come from?”

“I come from the Eastern Isles.” She continued to cooperate. Although I knew she was from the Eastern isles, her appearance gave that away. I wanted something more specific, and she knew it. “I hail from the Shinokaze Clan.”

“What are you doing here?” I repeat the question, carefully pressing the blade against her and making her tense up, “Don’t dodge any of my questions. It’s a six month journey to get from here to the Eastern Isles, and I know for a fact that’s how long it took me to get here. You must have a reason for coming here.”

“I...” She was hesitating to answer. Was she too scared to answer, or was that information too sensitive to share?

“If you did not want to come to Alivast, then why did you leave the Eastern Isles?” I continued to pressure her.

“... Because I ran away.” I tightened the grip of my dagger and pressed harder, making her tense up further and inhale sharply. “I-I ran away because I’m scared of The Daimyo! I came here because I wanted to get as far away from my clan as possible! Please don’t kill me!”

I held my blade for a moment and took a careful, insightful look at her. She wasn’t lying. I’ve managed to scare her into telling me what I wanted to know. Of course, her answers only raised even more questions that I wanted to ask her. But for now… I withdrew my blade, but kept my hand on her shoulder. “You’re coming with me, Toko.” I tell her, “You’re going back to the Sweet Dragon, you will tell them the truth, and you will apologize for lying to them. Don’t expect to be hired for your little stunt.”

“I know...” Toko nodded. She was clearly ashamed of what she did. It wasn’t a ‘sorry I got caught’ kind of shame either.

We were making our way back to the hole in the wall we had used to get into the Hoketh Temple. But just as we were about to reach the stairs the front doors suddenly exploded, and small pieces of debris flew in our direction. I raised my hand up in defense, but I kept a grip on the back of Toko’s collar to keep her from trying to run in the middle of the confusion.

When the dust settled down, an absolutely massive Orc came stomping through. 8 feet tall, wearing heavy armor from the waist down and a large shield mounted on his shoulder. In his right hand was a warhammer; big enough that an ordinary person would need both hands to swing it, but this guy was able to wield it with only one. He looked at Toko and I, grinning his teeth which, for a moment, I somehow managed to confuse for tusks. “There ya are, ya little brat!” The orc said with glee, “Yer people be payin’ me big bucks to see ya dead! Dunno what ya did t’piss them off, but easy money is easy money! Hey you!” He pointed at me, cracking his neck, “Sucks t’be you, bird! I was told no witnesses, so you’ll be goin’ down with her!”

… Oh, fan-freaking-tastic, looks like I’m going to have to fight my way out of this one.


	2. Brawl in the Hoketh Temple!

“Now then!” The giant orc grinned his tusky grin as he looking at Toko and myself. “Which of you am I going t’squish first? The pipsqueak looks especially weak, but you...” he pointed at me, “you look like yer gonna be a pain in my ass.”

“Hold on, mighty Orc!” I raised a hand in objection to what he’s about to do. I have a plan on how to escape this mess, but I need to act quick in order for it to work. “What if I made you a deal to spare us both?” I began to bargain with him. All that’s left to do is pray to the Gods above that he’s somehow even dumber than Borky.

“A deal, eh? What could you possibly offer that’s better than 100,000 gold?” He questioned me. O-O-One hundred thousand gold for Toko’s head!? Not even Solly and Mel’s bounties combined were that high, and they were two of the two highest bounties in Alivast, at least when I first arrived in town.

“Uh...” I was hesitating. How am I supposed to… No, I have to take this gamble. I raised the bento boxes up to him. “You can have everything that’s in these treasure boxes!” I tell the Orc, lying through the skin of my beak. “They’re loaded with gold nuggets and kinds of valuables. You could easily make over 100,000 gold with everything there.”

“... Really now?” The orc raised an eyebrow to my offer. He yanked the stack right out of my talon, which I kept raised so he wasn’t under the impression that I wasn’t trying to trick him. I can’t believe it, it’s somehow working. “I’m going to have to check for meself. Awfully light for such tiny treasure boxes.” He said and he took the top box and opened the lid. And the moment he peered inside…

“Hyou, Jin, Zai!” I quickly made three hand signs, “ _Muten no Jutsu!_ ”

Fog blasted out of the box and into the Orc’s face. “Bloody hell, what is this sorcery!?” I couldn’t help but chuckle as everything within a 60 feet radius was quickly enveloped in fog. It’s called hat trickery, brainless one. This was my chance to make an escape with Toko. No doubt this brute was going to follow us so… Wait, where’s Toko?

I dashed out of the fog and up the stairs and quickly peered out of the hole. I could see her dashing out of the alleyway. I facepalmed, realizing that I let go of her in order to cast Fog Cloud. Blast it, now I have to chase her down!

“And where do ya think yer goin’, bird!?” The orc’s voice growled from behind, grabbing me by the back of my collar and pulled me back in right as I was about to give chase, pinning me against the wall. “I’ll get the girl later. I’m about to enjoy me some chicken wings for dinner tonight!” He declared, raising up his hammer. This was bad, he was going to smash my head in!

“You’ll die trying!” I yell at him as I drew an old weapon I’ve had for the longest time, almost all the way back to the beginning of my adventures in Alivast. As swift as the wind, I flipped the dagger into a reverse grip and stabbed into the arm the bounty hunter was pinning me to the wall with, pressing the grip and watched a sickening green liquid from the blade secrete and burn his flesh.

The Orc shrieked in agony as he dropped the hammer and let go of me. He was writhing as he gripped his wounded arm, screaming and watching the acid eating into his injury. “You little feathered fuck!!” He was yelling at me. I ignored him and looked at my dagger with a smile. Oh, thank you so very much, Scary Acid Dagger of Stab.

With the Orc distracted, I immediately dashed up to the top of the stairs, about to round the corner when I spotted a closed barrel sitting in the corner, completely ignored and covered in dust.

“Get back here, you damn bird!” I could hear the Orc shouting at me, stomping up the stairs.

The thing about me is, I’m not one for fighting my opponents head-on. So no thank you, Mr. Bounty Hunter. I grabbed the top of the barrel and tipped it over onto its side. With no time to lose, I rolled the barrel forward and pushed it down the stairs, watching it bounce and bang on the way down at the Orc.

“What the--!?” The Orc quick swung his hammer at the barrel, smashing to pieces and making the contents inside explode into a cloud of black. Some of it managed to get up here and invaded my nostrils. Wait a minute. Was this the smell of gunpowder?

A smile formed on my face. I knew exactly what to do and I have to thank my unusually good luck for this. “Hyou, Kai, Retsu! _Katon no Jutsu!_ ” I quickly used my hand signs, then made a circle with my left hand and did a quick blow of air through the hole. A Fire Bolt ignited, flying through the air and into the cloud of gunpowder, immediately igniting it and creating a large explosion. I could hear the Orc letting out of a blood curdling roar as the blast sent me flying back and hit against the wall behind me.

I shook my head and decided to finally run around the corner. Now I’m on the second floor scaffolding, looking over the entire main hall below. The footing here is rather dangerous. I can see parts of this floor having collapsed. I better watch my step, or I can look forward to a rather painful fall.

“Lil’ blue bastard!” Before I had a chance to react, the bounty hunter orc somehow managed to endure the explosion and caught up to me, slamming me in my left side with his hammer. There was enough force in his swing to send me launching through the air and crashing into the railing.

“Ugh!” I shocked out as I hit the rails. My grip on the Acid Dagger was released out of impulse and I could only watch the dagger fall to the floor below. I let out a pained sigh. “So much for that good luck.” I grumbled before looking back to the Orc. He was looking at me with that cocky smile again.

“No more tricks out of you, birdie.” He chuckled, pressing a button on his hammer. The hammer’s head popped off and dropped to the floor with a loud thud. A chain link was attached to the head and connected to the hammer’s shaft. That’s just wonderful, the hammer doubles as a large flail. From the length of the chain, it must be enough for him to attack me from ten feet away. Holding the hammer shaft with both arms, he started to spin the chain overhead. “Say goodbye to that bird head of yers!”

Yeah, no thanks. I’d rather take the fall.

I took hold of the rail and threw myself over the edge. As I fell, falling with my back against the oncoming floor, I watched as the bounty hunter’s hammer flail smashed the rail into a white cloud of powder and debris. That was too close. A second longer and I would have been dead. I closed my eyes and gritted my beak, waiting for the impact to finally happen.

Except there was no impact. Instead, I felt a pair of arms catch me, followed by whoever caught me and myself both tumbling onto the ground with grunts. “Agh… Jeez, Blue, for somebody who prefers to stay out of trouble, you’re a magnet for it.”

“Ngh...” I grunted as I heard a familiar voice. I could barely move with how much pain my left side was in. Stupid flail… hammer… hybrid... _thing._ I was helped to stand back on my feet, my arm slung over the shoulders of the man who saved me. Somehow, I found the strength to not let the pain overwhelm me and finally opened my eyes to see a very familiar, very welcomed face. A human with a toothpick in his mouth, looking scruffy as ever. “Heh.” I cracked a grin, “Welch, you son of a bitch. You’re a sight for this bird’s sore eyes. How did you know what was going on?” I asked as we began to walk to the front entrance.

“Wasn’t that hard,” Welch explained, “A girl in Eastern Isle clothing told us you were in trouble, and there was that large explosion. Good thing we were nearby, or your feathers would have been all over the place.” Jeez, that’s putting it nicely. Wait… A girl in Eastern Isle clothing? No way. Did Toko run to get help?

Several more Alivast Guards came rushing into the building, with Corporal Sebastian Alexander Markus Viktor Samantha Gregory Strong and his glorious mustache leading the charge. Actually, that name is long, I should just stick with Sebastian Strong. “Look alive, soldiers! According to that child, this Orc is an especially nasty one! Be wary of the fog cloud! Ah!” He rushed over to Welch and I the moment he spotted us. “Greckles, my favorite bird, you look absolutely terrible!”

“Hello to you too, Sebastian. Agh...” I winced and held my hurting side. I was sat down at the stairs, where a cleric had already begun to administer Cure Wounds on me. “You gotta warn your men. That Orc is a bounty hunter, and his hammer has a mechanism that lets it be used as a flail. I’d wager 10 gold pieces that he’s a Barbarian like Borky, except whoever hired him made it clear they want us all dead for being witnesses.”

“I’ll take you up on that bet.” Welch cracked a grin, making a light tease at me.

Of course, the bet was going to have to wait. There was a loud screaming that made me and Welch look back to see one of the guards get thrown off the second floor and crash to the first floor. “Ya think a bunch of simpleminded guards is gonna stop me!?” The Orc’s voice boomed all the way out here. So much for my moment of respite.

With my Scary Acid Dagger of Stab missing, I drew out my two daggers, Nick and Todd. I slowly stood up and turned around. “I don’t suppose you’ll let me help out despite my injury?”

“Hey, I can’t stop you.” Welch shrugged before brandishing his own daggers. “Besides, the cleric did a quick job healing you. Just do her a favor and don’t get hit again.”

We both ran back into the Hoketh Temple. The Alivast Guards were having hell trying to beat this guy. He’s making wide swings with his hammer flail, bashing and launching them in groups. The guards with shields are having a rough time just trying to stand their ground and keep him in place.In fact, we came back in just in time to see three of the guards get launched from another of his wide swings.

“Don’t let up, men! It’s one of him against many of us!” Sebastian rallied his soldiers, holding his rapier high in one hand, and a shield in the other. He made a quick sidestep to dodge ‘Meathead’, as I’m now calling the Orc, who just made an overhead swing at the Corporal. “Ha! It’ll take more than brute force to strike me down, you ill-mannered thug!” He says that, but even he was spooked by how the hammer head smashed a small crater into the stone floor.

With Meathead distracted by the guards and Sebastian, Welch and I split up and started to go around, making sure to take cover so he wouldn't spot us.

Suddenly, Meathead let out a painful roar, turning around to see that a small pink-cladded human ambushed him from behind. Wait a minute, that’s Toko!? “Eh!?” I blinked twice in surprise as I watched the small child take several steps away from her incredibly larger foe. She was dueling wielding a pair of large shuriken. Wait, are those Fuuma Shuriken? It was common knowledge among shinobi that there were exaggeratingly large shuriken, but the two she’s wielding look awfully small. From one tip of the blade to the other, they were no bigger than chakrams, albeit with a much smaller center to hold them in.

Still, it looks like they’re somehow efficient as melee weapons, for as soon as Meathead’s back was turned, I could see the wounds on his back, slight above the waist.

“What manner of madness is this!? Young lady!” Sebastian called out to Toko, “It’s dangerous to be here, flee at once!”

“I won’t!” She shouted back. “Too many people have died because of me… I won’t let another one die this day!” She was sounding awfully courageous for somebody scared only a bit ago. Was this really the same kid that tried to deceive me and my friends into giving her a job?

“Sneaky little brat, aren’t ya?” Meathead asked, whipping his Hammer-Flail around to get ready for another overhead attack. “If ya want to die that badly, I’ll be glad to--”

Not on my watch! With the element of surprise on my side, I threw one of my daggers, Todd, at Meathead. “Fuck you, Niiiiiiick!” … Oh right, I forgot that these daggers could talk. And really hated each other. Either way, my aim was true and got Meathead in the back again, making him yelp before trying to reach for the dagger plunged deep in his shoulder blade. Jokes on him. Just as he was about to reach Todd, it popped out of existence and back into existence, right in my hand. I love these daggers. Their bickering sucks, but it’s worth having daggers that are magically pulled back to each other.

The Alivast Guard started to rush at Meathead again, thanks to the coordination of Toko’s sneak attack and mine. Even Welch was able to join in on the rush, keeping to the shadows by keeping behind his comrades while Meathead was focused on them. Once he found his opening, he went in and give the bounty hunter yet another swift strike in his back.

I was right to call the bounty hunter ‘Meathead’, he let himself get snuck up on three times in less than twelve seconds of combat.

From the corner of my eye, I noticed Toko skulking back, going into the Fog Cloud I created to try and fade back into obscurity. The pink of her kimono didn’t help since it was making her highly visible in this otherwise dim location. You poor ignorant child, your poor choice of clothing is coming back to haunt you.

With the Orc distracted, I decided to go after Toko, skulking into the fog myself and carefully, and slowly move forward. It would be really embarrassing if I got lost in my own Muten no Jutsu. At least it’s only Sebastian and Welch that would see it and not the guys; Welch would only tease me about it while Sebastian would try to cheer me up and tell me to think nothing of it.

Ah, there was Toko. She was waiting along the edge of the Fog Cloud, waiting for her chance to strike again. You’re not getting away from me this time, kid. I grabbed her by the back of her collar and pulled her towards me. She let out a yelp, but I was quick to raise a finger to my beak and told her to shush. “Toko, it’s me.”

“M-Mr. Greckles!?” Toko looked at me with great worry. I simply nodded. We were close enough that we could see each other’s faces. She let out a sigh of relief and her shoulders relaxed. “Thank goodness you’re alright.”

“Considering you could have easily left me to die.” I immediately told her. But it’s not something I’m going to hold against her. If anything, I’m glad she came back with help. “But serious talk, don’t ever pull a stunt like that again. You’re in big trouble once this is over.”

“I know...” Toko grimaced, but she quickly came back around and put her brave face back on. “So what’s the plan? That bounty hunter is way stronger than he looks. He got hit in the back thrice and he’s still standing.”

“I’m willing to bet he’s raging. They’re always harder to strike down when they do that.” I tell Toko, keeping an eye on the battle. Wasn’t easy though. We were in the edge of the Fog Cloud, but I can barely see what’s going on out there. Of course, we’ve hung around Borky more than long enough to know just how tough an angry Orc can get. “Although...” I check my darts and see what I have. Some acid darts, darts that cause hallucinations, regular darts to be a pain in somebody’s butt… Aha! Poison darts! Perfect!

I took out a pair of darts and crawled my way out of the Fog Cloud, making a hand gesture to tell Toko to follow me before I got too far for her to tell what I was telling her. The fight with the orc was starting to become unfavorable for the Alivast Guard. Welch just ducked below a swing of the hammer flail, which sent two more Guards tumbling to the ground, and they had their shields up. Sebastian was standing back, protecting the healers as they were tending to some of the guards that Meathead has put out of commission. We needed to act quick and turn this battle back to our favor.

I hid behind a support beam with its upper half missing. Just tall enough for me to hide behind without any part of me sticking out. Toko was crouching down next to me, holstering her fuuma shuriken on to her hips. Huh. So that’s why they look so compact in size. They were made with portability in mind. “I hope this works...” She mumbled to herself, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath before making three hand signs and poke her head out from around the pillar, doing… something, with her hands.

Suddenly, the belt around Meathead’s waist unraveled itself and was yanked clean off, causing his pants to fall down and reveal pink polka dotted boxers. Nice. “Ahhhh! I’m caught with me pants down!” He shouted with a girly shriek. I couldn’t help but snort and snicker before looking and and give Toko a headpat.

“Nice use of Mage Hand.” I tell her. I pretty much realized what she was doing when that belt suddenly acted like it had a mind of its own. This will make what I’m going to do a whole lot easier.

While Meathead was distracted, I quickly threw both of my poison darts right at his butt. They planted firmly into his posterior, making him yelp and stand right up. “What the!?” He looked back to see the darts, and then up to me with the most exasperated look on his face. “The fuck was that cheap shot fooohhhh I don’t feel so good...” He groaned before the poison quickly overtook him. He fell right over with a heavy thud, foaming at his tusky mouth.

The Alivast Guard were quick to swarm him. The Clerics got to work and used their healing magic to cleanse him of the poison before it killed him, and the fighters were quick to slap the irons on him. Welch and Sebastian approached me, looking relieved that I’m doing alright. “Oh, thank goodness you’re alright Greckles! A right good day, it is!” Sebastian expressed his joy, putting his arms around me and giving me a big hug.

“Gyaaahh!” Of course, I couldn’t help but yell in pain, because that hug just so happens to be squeezing where Meathead hit me with his hammer! I might have been healed, but it’s still sore down there! “S-Sebastian, still hurting in the side!”

“Oh! Terribly sorry!” The Corporal quickly let me go, “What exactly happened here, Greckles? To hear a fight breaking out inside an abandoned temple isn’t normal, and we've had more than our share of not-normal incidents.”

“It’s a long story, but not as complicated.” I told him, straightening myself up. “It just started an… Hey, where’s Toko?” I just realized that she disappeared again. Oh, don’t tell me she ran away--oh, there she is. She somehow managed to sneak off back to her little camp and was quickly packing things up while nobody noticed her. She’s already taken down her hammock, put out the campfire, and she was already trying to pack up everything that was inside her shabby tent. “Uh… Pardon me a second, gentlemen.” I tell Sebastian and Welch and walk over to Toko.

Along the way, I noticed my missing Scary Acid Dagger of Stab lying on the ground, nonchalantly picking up that slippery blade and sheathed it. But it didn’t stop me from making my way over to the little ninja girl, and put my hand on her shoulder. Upon grabbing her, she gasped and looked back up at me. “Come back to the Sweet Dragon with me. You have a lot of explaining to do. And I mean a _lot._ ”

Toko just looked down, clearly not liking the idea as she was making a very guilty look on her face. She let out a sigh and stood up, looking up to me with a nod. “I understand. I can’t get out of this, can I?”

“I’m afraid not.” I shook my head to her. With the initial chaos done and over with, we started our walk back to the Sweet Dragon.


	3. My new life as the Grackle’s pupil

(Toko’s Point of View)

I took a deep breath, and quietly exhaled. This was it. I’m done for. After that battle with the Bounty Hunter Orc, Greckles took me back to the Sweet Dragon, where my lie was revealed and I told who I really was, what I had gone through, and why I tried to lie my way to getting a job in their establishment. They were… upset, to put it lightly. The red-scaled Kobold, Task I believe was his name, was especially angry with me.

Really, the only reason I’m not dead yet is because... I think it’s because I’m homeless. But that’s just a wild guess, and a very poor guess at that.

Right now, I’m sitting in one of the rooms used by employees living here. There’s almost nothing in here. A chair, which I’m currently sitting on, a bed in the corner, and a nightstand. No windows to speak of, and the door that could lead out of this room was locked, guarded by an especially scary female Orc named Helga. I’m a prisoner, with all of my belongings confiscated to make sure I couldn’t attempt an escape.

I even looked around for any other method of escape. No gratings, loose boards, or even any holes they neglected. I’m stuck. I have no choice but to sit in here and wait for somebody to let me out.

I’ve been in this room for what’s felt like hours now. I bet they’ve been sorting through all the information I’ve practically handed to them on a silver platter. In truth, I’m terrified of what’s going to happen to me now. There’s no way they’re going to let me walk away from this. The most likely scenario is that I’m going to be handed over to the Alivast Guards and put in prison.

I let out another sigh and just shook my head. This sucks. Six months of running, of trying to get as far away from the Eastern Isles as possible, and this is how it ends. I can’t believe they were somehow able to track me this far out into foreign territory, given what that bounty hunter said about me being worth 100,000 gold. It's most likely just a trick to get people to kill me, and then kill them so my death can’t be led back to them.

My head jerked up and I looked at the door. Somebody was unlocking the door. Looks like it was time for me to face the music.

The door was opened, and a Tiefling was looking at me. Panic Grimtongue. The group’s Bard. “We’re ready to speak with you again.” He told me. I just nodded my head and stood up, walking out of the room with Panic following close behind.

Greckles was waiting just outside of the Common Room. Once I was close, it was Greckles who escorted me into the room, bringing me to a chair sitting across the table from where Task was sitting, with pieces of parchment scribbled. Besides him was Borky, arms folded and looking very disappointed at me if his scowl and slow head shake was anything to go by. Panic broke away and stood over next to Task. Greckles stayed on my side to make sure I didn’t try to pull a fast one.

“So.” Task opened up the conversation, leaning forward with his elbows on the table. His hands together and hiding his mouth. He was glaring at me with his sharp yellow-green eyes. “You lied to us.”

“Yes, sir.” I said with a nod.

“Why?” He asked. He should know why. I told him everything. “Tell us, kid. We’re going over what you told us to make sure we’ve got our facts straight. You’ll be in even bigger trouble if you don’t cooperate.” Harsh, but he is right that I’m only making this harder on myself by staying quiet.

“Because I needed to cover my tracks.” I answered him. There was no change in his expression. Borky and Panic looked at Task, then all three of them looked down at some of the parchments on the table.

Borky picked up one of the papers, donned a pair of glasses, and looked at it for a second, opening his mouth for a moment, then closed it. “... Oh right, I can’t read. Here ya go, Panic.” He handed it over to Panic. All of us just slapped our hands over our faces.

Panic put the parchment down to grab another one. “To cover your track from whom though?” He asked me. “It says here that you said you were from a shinobi clan. The… Hmm...” He rubbed his chin as he was looking at what was written more closely. “I’m sorry, but how do you pronounce your clan name? This name is rather bizarre.”

“I come from the Shinokaze Clan. ‘Shii-no-kaw-zeh’ is how it’s pronounced.” I explained to him. “I lied because I wanted to keep my presence in Alivast hidden from my former clan. So I used a fake last name. I made up a fake backstory. Everything I could to pretend to be somebody else.”

“Well, you get points for at least trying.” Greckles spoke up. I looked up to him. He was smirking at me and patted me on the head. Is he… Is he making fun of me? I scowled and puffed up my cheeks at him. “But you didn’t look out for me, the one member of The Unexpectables who doesn’t let his guard down. Still though. The Shinokaze. The ‘Wind of Death.’ Hmm...” The kenku started to go into deep thought over it.

“Why did you flee from your clan?” Task continued the interrogation. He was intent on keeping this from going off-subject.

“Because my clan is evil.” I answered.

“That’s not good enough.” Greckles called me out. “Ninjas don’t just up and flee their ninja clans without a good reason. You’ve admitted to committing the highest crime a ninja could possibly make. A crime that only has one punishment, and that is death. No exceptions. You carry the knowledge of tens, if not hundreds of years of your clan’s secrets.” Just like that, my feeble response was crushed by facts and logic. “Why did you flee from your clan? What is it that you’re not telling us?”

I fell silent the moment Greckles asked me what I was hiding. I can’t tell him. I can’t tell any of them. Just knowing who I really am has already put their lives in danger. If I tell the the truth I--

“Giving us the silent treatment, huh?” Task sharpened his gaze at me. “We can just hand you right over to the Alivast Guard and let them do the interrogating, and you’ll just be a forgotten memory as far as we’re concerned.” My lips pursed and I started to tense up. “If you don’t want that to happen, then tell us the truth.”

“Please stop.” My voice trembled as I pleaded to him. “I won’t tell you. I _can’t_ tell you.”

Task was silent. His gaze was only getting sharper. He was judging me. His glare was practically threatening to pierce my very soul. “Why not? What could be so important that you can’t tell us?”

“Whoa, whoa, Task, stop, something’s not right here.” Greckles intervened and stepped around to where he was just to my side. “Toko, what’s wrong? You weren’t like this back in the Hoketh Temple. Why are you acting so scared all of a sudden?” I couldn’t answer him. I just shook my head and prayed they wouldn’t pry further. “Toko!” He put his talons on my shoulders and shook me a bit.

“Please stop.” My voice was still trembling as my mind was reliving that night. The night that made me flee from my clan. The terror… the suffering… It’s too much. I want to forget that night. “I don’t want to remember.”

All four of them were looking at me with surprise. Greckles let go of my shoulders and backed away a few steps. “Panic.” I could hear him calling his friend. “Get us some drinks. We’re going to be here longer than we thought.”

“I’m on it.” Panic said. I could hear his footsteps as he left the common room. We remained quiet while waiting for the Bard to come back. I could hear Task, Borky, and Greckles whispering. I couldn’t tell what they were saying. They were keeping their voices very low to make sure I didn’t hear anything I shouldn’t.

After a little bit, Panic came back in. “Drinks are here, fellas.” he declared, holding a tray of mugs. One by one, he gave his friends a drink, and finally me, placing the drink in front of me.

“Thank you.” I murmured, taking the mug into my hands and took a sip. It was sweet. Was this apple juice? Either way, I was putting myself in a better mood. At least a little bit. At the very least it was enough to relax my shoulders.

Greckles took a seat and sat down at the table close to me. “Toko, back in the Hoketh Temple, you said you fled from your clan because you feared the Daimyo.” Oh no, did I really say that? I must have been so scared I confessed without thinking. “Who is the Daimyo? What did he do to scare you so much?” I looked down at my drink and fell quiet again. My mind was starting to think back on that night… That is, until Greckles tapped my shoulder, getting my attention again. “You don’t have to tell us anything detailed. I can tell this is painful for you.”

I looked at him in surprise. He was okay with me not wanting to get too deep into this? I can’t tell if--

“Ohhhh, so this is what Good Knight, Bad Knight looks like! I understand now!” Borky commented. We all scowled at him. Seriously? Does he not realize blurting out like that is only going to make his friends look suspicious and make interrogations difficult?

“Shut up, Borky!” Task and Greckles shouted in unison. Actually got Borky to close his mouth shut. Panic rolled his eyes. I just sighed and shook my head. Well, that killed all the tension that filled this room.

With that mood killing moment over with, the Unexpectables looked back to me. I relaxed in my seat and just looked down at my drink. “The Daimyo is our clan leader. I don’t know his real name. Nobody in my clan did. I fear him because...” I closed my eyes and bit my lower lip. No, I have to tell them this. I can’t keep falling silent like this. “Because he killed failed students from my class. That’s all I can say. Trying to get any further into it is just too much for me right now.” I took a drink, trying to enjoy its flavor before setting the mug back on the table and looked at the four.

“Failed students?” Task and Greckles said in unison again, then looked at each other for a second before looking back at me.

“If I might ask?” Panic spoke up. “Does this Shinokaze Clan have some kind of hierarchy?”

“Yes.” I answered. Well, I suppose there really is no keeping secrets now. “The Shinokaze Clan consist of Common Practitioners and Divine Practitioners. Don’t bother asking me about what I know about Divine Practitioners. I don't know much about them myself, only that they are far more powerful than a Common Practitioner.”

“So what about these Common Practicers?” Borky finally spoke up and asked. “Are you one of them? How tough are you?”

“I am.” I nodded to Borky, “But I’m not tough. To be honest, I’m surprised I graduated at all. I passed almost all the required skills, just fell short on metallurgy and blacksmithing. It’s embarrassing to say, but I can’t even use arcane magic that well either. I can only use my cantrips. Anything more powerful has either not worked or backfired on me.”

“Only Cantrips? And you still somehow managed to make the journey here?” Greckles raised an eyebrow to me. “Toko, just how long ago did you graduate?”

“Seven months. I only arrived in Alivast about two weeks ago, shortly after winter started. That part of my resume was at least true.” I answered bluntly. Somehow, that got them all to gasp and start muttering to each other. I suppose it would be incredible for a fledgling shinobi like me to make such a journey. All I did was use the knowledge and skills I learned in class and focused on the ninja’s greatest skills, survival and endurance.

They were really going at it. They weren’t raising their voices at all, but their body language was getting… very expressive, to understate it. Greckles directioned his hands at me to remind them of just who it is they’re talking about. “Um… I-Is everything okay?” I asked them before the tension between them became too great, tilting my head to the side a little bit.

“Everything’s fine.” They said in unison before calming down and continuing to whisper to each other. Okay, that was pretty disturbing. In a split moment, it looks like four people from four different races acted as if they shared a single hivemind. That or my imagination is getting overactive.

“Excuse me, Toko!” Borky raised his hand, instantly getting my attention. The others flinched and reached out as if to stop him, but they just let out a groan and facepalmed. “Do you have any family in Alivast?”

“... I wish.” I answered somberly. I looked to the side. I couldn’t care less if I carried an expression of regret and shame. Being asked that hurt far more than it had any right to. Why did their Orc friend have to be so blunt about it? “Greckles found me all by myself in the Hoketh Temple. I had to leave my family on the Eastern Isles. I hope they’re doing okay. I miss them so much.”

“Well there ya go.” Borky said proudly, with a doofy grin on his face. Task grabbed him by neck and pulled him down to this level.

“Uh-huh, that’s nice. Now get the hell back in the huddle, Borky!” Task scolded his friend and they continued to mutter.

Well, here I am again. Waiting for them to come to a decision. I looked down at my drink and swished it around a bit before drinking it down until it was finally empty. Not a bad drink. I set the mug onto the table and continued to wait.

“Break!” The Unexpectables shouted and clapped in unison, breaking away and getting back to their positions, with Greckles sitting close to me while the Task, Borky, and Panic looked at me from the other side of the table.

“Well, Toko...” Task began to speak to me again, “We’ve discussed, and after much deliberation, we’ve come to a decision.” I swallowed hard. This was it. This is the part where I’m going to get my butt thrown in prison. “You’re hired. The room we kept you in is yours to use.” … Wait, what? Did I hear that right? “But under three conditions.”

“Wh-What are these conditions supposed to be?” I asked. I really did not like where this was going.

“First condition.” Task lifted up a finger as he began to explain, “No more lying. We get enough of that shit in our line of work, we don’t need employees trying to weasel their way into seeking shelter.” I nodded my head. That was understandable. This is an awfully merciful condition, though. Task held up a second finger. “Second condition. You’re 100% loyal to us. No sending letters or leaking information to possible threats. You got that? You try to stab us in the back, you can expect an arrow in yours. Furthermore, you’re not allowed to go anywhere without our permission.”

I nodded my head frantically. Yep, there it was, the part that reminded me that I was still in very deep trouble. “A-And the third condition?”

Task smiled and looked over to Greckles, who nodded and looked over to me. “The third condition is that you will serve as my pupil.”

“... What?” I said flatly. My eyes shrank down into beady black dots and I was giving the tiniest, absolutely confused smile imaginable.

“You said you can only use Cantrips, right? Only graduated seven months ago?” Greckles asked me, which I confirmed with a simple nod. “Then you clearly need a master to properly teach you. Really, it’s a miracle you managed to survive this long, much less leave the Eastern Isles.”

“You’re not worried I made all of that up?” I asked Greckles immediately. He’s also a shinobi, right? Shouldn’t he be the most cautious of the group?

“Funny you should say that.” Greckles grinned and held up a scroll… Hey wait a minute, that was one of my scrolls! Before I could say anything, he rolled it opened, clearing his throat to read out what was written within. “When a ninja steals, they steal in the interest of their clan and their lord. A ninja who steals in self-interest will lose the divine protection of their god and be met a painful, humiliating end. Who are you but a common criminal to use the teachings of your clan for personal gain? Not even the samurai, the most honor-bound warrior in the land, can resort to thievery without suffering the consequences. When they do, it is harsh and decisive. For many, they pay for their transgression with Seppuku or spend the rest of their life as outcasts, forever disgraced.” He closed the scroll and looked at me, still smiling at me. He held out the scroll to me, which I was more than happy to take back.

It was still incredibly embarrassing that he read through one of my scrolls, however.

“In other words, you’re a shinobi who understands loyalty. Ignoring that you’re also a Nukenin.” I winced at that last part. Greckles is just letting me have it with how badly I screwed up. “And considering the scroll and several of your other scrolls were written to teach others, there’s merit to your testimony about only knowing cantrips. I could easily take you down if you tried to turn against us.”

“I get it already, stop rubbing it in!” I shouted at Greckles, blushing and pouting at him while he was snickering at how embarrassed I was right now. “I admit it. I suck as a ninja and it’s a miracle I’m not dead yet. Happy now?”

“A little extreme when you put it like that, but yes.” He reached out and simply patted me on the head before pulling his hand back. “You’ll be working first thing in the morning. Head back to your room and get some sleep. Dinner will be sent to you.”

“Thank you, Sensei.” I bow to Greckles before standing up, and then bow to the rest of the Unexpectables. “If you’ll excuse me. Good night, everyone.” With the escort of my sensei, I was brought back to my new room. Back in my dull, near-featureless room.

I merely sighed and walked over to the bed and threw myself onto it, rolling until I was lying on my side, with arms tucked around my chest to protect my heart as much as possible. In truth, after everything I had gone through, sleeping on the ground and hard floors during my journey to Alivast and having to constantly hide, it felt nice being to sleep on a genuine bed for once.

My eyes are heavy. I’ve gone through far more than I cared to deal with in a single day. I just wanted to have an interview and pray I was able to get a job. Instead I got caught, almost got myself, Greckles, and the Alivast Guard killed by an Orcish thug, and thoroughly interrogated by the people I had an interview with.

I’m so… tired… Let… this day… end… already...

…

……

………

\-----

At the dead of night in the streets of Alivast, an Orc Barbarian grumbled and complained to himself as he was just let out of prison after paying a hefty bail for all the damage that he had caused. Damn that stupid blue bird and that tiny pink child. Damn that scrawny Alivard Guard leader with the bushy mustache. This bounty was more trouble than it was worth.

A drink at the usual bar will lift his spirits. Yeah, that sounds like a great idea.

“Never send a brute to do a warrior’s job.”

Suddenly, the air was dead silent. The Orc was still as a statue as he could only hear the sound of something cut through the air. And then the sound of a blade being sheathed.

And then a click.

The Barbarian Orc erupted in a bloody explosion as his entire body suddenly fell to pieces and fell to the ground. His head and tusks rolled along the ground a good foot before stopping, with his tongue hanging out and eyes rolled up.

A swordsman looked down at the bloody pool and sliced up Orc meat. Covered in bandages at almost every part of his body with the tail ends of the bandages fluttering in the wind. He turned around and walked away as what he had done to the Orc Barbarian wasn’t any of his concern.


	4. The First Day of Training Always Goes Wrong

“It’s time to get Orky! It’s time to get Borky! **RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!** ”

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! MERCIFUL KAMI, SAVE ME!!”

I groaned and slapped a talon over my eyes. Gods damn it, I should have chosen to sleep in. Why did Borky have to do his morning routine out the front of the Sweet Dragon today, of all days? “Borky, that was really unnecessary? You scared Toko so badly that I could hear her screaming all the way here.” I told him as he was walking back in with his usual doofy smile on his face.

“The morning routine is always necessary, Greks.” Borky said with a jovial tone, “And the only time this is an exception in times of dire circumstances, and we haven’t had one in a good long while.”

“Good morning...” I looked over to see Toko standing before Borky and I, rubbing one of her eyes and clearly exhausted. She was swearing some common clothes one of our employees, Meryl, lended to her. Due to how small Toko was compared to Meryl, the dress was down to her shins, and her fingers barely poked out of the sleeves.. “Borky, why did you roar like that…? I’m exhausted...”

“Aw, don’t be like that.” Borky objected, “It’ll do you some good to wake up bright and early. Besides, you’ve been working here for two weeks now.”

Toko groaned and rolled her eyes, simply walking over to the bar counter and taking the seat next to me. “Good morning, Sensei...”

“Good morning, kiddo.” I simply patted her on the back. She was so tired that she must not realize that she already said good morning only a moment ago. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I want throw every pillow in the Sweet Dragon at Borky’s face for scaring me.” She answered. I simply cracked a grin and kept down my laughter.

“Well, here’s a bit of news that will cheer you up.” I patted her on the back to try and cheer her up. “We’ll finally be doing your first lesson, starting with teaching you to use stronger spells.”

“Wait, what?” Toko looked at me with confusion, “We’re now getting to my first lesson? Then what was I doing for the past two weeks?”

“Simple, my little student.” I tapped on the head with my talon, “To get used to living and working in the Sweet Dragon. You’re going to be living here, so you need to take some time to understand the rules and your coworkers. You remember what Task said, right?”

“Yeah.” Toko made a weak nod with her head. She must still be trying to fully wake up. “No more lying, no going anywhere without permission, and I’m completely loyal to the Sweet Dragon. Hard to forget when he’s saving an arrow just for me.”

“Come on, he’s not that distrusting.” I told her, “He’s only saying that to stir you away from any ideas of betrayal.”

“No, actually, I thoroughly don’t trust her.” I looked up to see Task coming down the stairs, followed by Panic. “If she wants my trust, she’s going to have to earn it, and two weeks of hard work is only the start of it.”

“Don’t pay much mind to Task.” Panic told us, “He’s upset that Borky’s morning routine managed to wake him up.”

Task growled in frustration and massaged the sides of his head, “I can’t believe my Crystal of Silence decided to goddamn break. I’m going to have to ask Willow to fix that.”

“Willow… Willow… She’s the Wizard living in the tower, right?” Toko asked, “I tried asking her to help me with my arcane magic, but she specialized in potions and magical items.”

“When did you find the time to ask her?” I raised an eyebrow to Toko’s explanation. As I recall, the past two weeks have been pretty busy for her and often left her too tired to do anything except go back to her room and rest. But still, I just smiled and patted her on the head, “Regardless, at least you’re trying to be resourceful.”

“Breakfast is here!” A Halfling with a fish for a head came out of the kitchen, carrying a tray full of food. Ah, Tai Borpington, you never disappoint. He served us a classic meal this time. A stack of three pancakes, a biscuit, sausage, and scrambled eggs. I could feel the stare of a certain Orc. He’s gotta be smirking at me. I turn around and scowl to meet his smug grin. “It’s not cannibalism, Borky! _Damatte!_ ” The jolly green giant just laughs and points at me before he finally takes a seat and starts eating. I swear, I’ve been around him too long to know exactly how he thinks (sort of) and how he’ll react to what I’m doing.

“Cannibalism?” I turned back to Toko. She tilted her head in confusion. “You mean the scrambled eggs? But that’s normal for Kenku, isn’t it? Is Kenku eating lesser birds not a normal food chain?” Borky was laughing even harder as I just facepalmed for a moment before patting Toko’s head again.

“It’s best to just not think about it. Last thing we need is to give Borky more ammo.” I tell my student and finally get around to eating breakfast.

Toko put her hands together and bowed forward a bit, “ _Itadakimasu._ ” She spoke in Avian. A tradition back in the Eastern Isles. To sum it up very briefly, it basically meant ‘Thank you for the meal.’

“ _Itadakimasu._ ” I did the same before eating breakfast.The eggs and pancakes were hot and fluffy. Zesty sausage, and the biscuit’s golden brown crust had this soft, but delicious crunch to it. Tai Borpington, you’ve shown just how good of a chef you are once again. “This is great, Mr. Borpington.” I complimented our chef. He got bashful and smiled at me. “By the way, how has Toko been doing in the kitchen?”

“Toko? She’s been doing just fine. I don’t have any complaints. She follows my instructions to the letter. I can tell she’s had a pretty decent upbringing.” He answered before looking at Toko, then back to me. I was smiling. This is good news. “Although I have noticed that she was doing something strange with the eggshells.” I was frowning.

“What do you mean?” I asked. Toko inhaled sharply and turned pale as her eyes widened. I could sense hostility from Task rising.

“Well, she poked holes on the top and bottom of the eggs and blew out the yoke. Any eggs that remained intact she would keep and take them to her room.” Mr. Borpington continued his explanation. Wait a minute, that sounds a lot like--

“Toko, what did you do!?” Task shouted at her. The hostility in his voice got everybody’s attention to look at him. “What were you doing with those eggshells!?”

“Ah! D-D-Don’t hurt me, Master Task!” Toko pleaded, quickly getting out of her seat and backing off. But Task was quicker and rapidly approaching herself, making her back up until her back was against the wall.

“What. Were. You. Doing?” Task repeated his question.

“I-I.. I was...” Toko swallowed hard. “I was m-making Metsubushi Bombs.”

“BOMBS!?” Task shouted in surprise. He growled and drew his shortsword. Oh crap, this is really bad!

“Task, Task, Task!” I repeatedly called out his name, quickly getting out of my seat and ran up to him, putting myself between the Kobold Ranger and terrified human before any blood could be spilled. “It’s alright, Task! It’s not the kind of bomb you’re thinking!” I had my hands on his shoulders.

He looked at me before he returned his glare to Toko. “Explain yourself. What’s a Metsubushi Bomb?”

“It means ‘Eye-Closing Bomb’, Master Task.” Toko, visibly terrified and trembling, mustered up the courage to speak. “I-It’s a pocket sized bomb you throw at your enemies in order to blind them. It’s typically filled with powder, all manner of filth, and spices to disorientate your foes and make an escape, or ambush them if you prefer.” Her shoulders sagged and she looked to the ground in shame. “I-I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I wanted to make it up to you for my deception by making tools for your adventures.”

“So it’s like a smoke bomb, but for specific targets instead of entire groups.” Task glared at Toko for another moment, before letting out a heavy sigh and sheathed his blade. The whole room let out a sigh of relief as the tension was leaving the room. I let go of Task, and he walked up to the scared girl, putting a hand on her shoulder. She raised her head back up to meet him eye-to-eye. “I’ll forgive you for this.” He said, raising the finger of his other hand. “But you’re still grounded, understand? You did something without our knowledge and were taking things without permission, not to mention you did something suspicious and it led to a misunderstanding.”

Toko nodded, “Yes, Master Task, I understand.”

“Good.” Task patted her shoulder, “You’ll be doing double kitchen duty tomorrow, and no more making tools for us unless we ask for it from now on.” He turned back around and looked up to me. “Sorry for the scare, Greckles.”

“It’s not a problem.” I responded, letting Task go back to his seat so he can finish up his meal.

Toko and I did the same, although I noticed that Toko’s hands were trembling. I don’t blame her. Task gave her quite a scare. I just patted her on the back and smiled. “It’s going to be okay. The worst of it is over.”

“Y-Yes, Sensei.” Toko nodded and resumed eating, remaining quiet for the rest of the meal.

Before long, we'd all finished eating our meals and gave back our plates to Mr. Borpington, who picked them up in a stack and carried them into the kitchen. Everybody started to leave the dining counter and began to prepare to open the shop. Toko started to head back to her room when I reached out and tapped her on the shoulder. “If you have a shinobi’s uniform, get changed. I’ll be in the training room.”

“O-Of course! I’ll be right there, Sensei!” Toko nodded her head and ran off. Good to know she takes her orders seriously. Hard to believe somebody like that only just graduated to shinobi.

I headed over to the training room. A bit of dust, seeing as I’m the only one who makes any actual use of it. Some weights to lift such as bench pressing and curls, a mattress for sparing; although I’ve used it for meditation, and plenty of wooden weapons. Mainly swords of varying sizes; some even the length of daggers and shortswords, although they were just ordinary wooden sticks compared to the longswords.

“I’m here, Sensei!”

“Ah good. You’re very quick--” I turned around to greet Toko with a smile. But the moment I saw her, my face turned into a Photorealistic Bird Face. What. The Hell. Is she wearing? Another short-skirt kimono, but now without sleeves. Black knee-highs and detached sleeves. A pair of metal gauntlets and greaves. A long twin-ended scarf wrapped around her neck and went down along her back. And worst of all. It’s a combination of _PINK. AND. FUCHSIA._ “Toko.” I call her out my name with a heavy and serious tone, “What... are you wearing?”

“Um...” Toko took as step back, clearly intimidated by the look and tone I was giving her. “M-My Shinobi uniform…?” … Oh my God. “I-It’s standard in my village to wear--”

\-----

Outside of The Sweet Dragon, civilians and adventurers were passing by having jovial conversations and trying to enjoy the crazy winter weather.

When suddenly…

“OH MY GAAAAAAAAWWWWWWDDD!!!”

The scream of an agonizing Grackle Kenku echoed so loud that it made the snow and ice around the edges of The Sweet Dragon’s roof fall off. Many Pigeons took off and fled to different parts of Alivast in fright.

\-----

“Real ninja wear blue, real ninja wear blue, real ninja wear blue...” I muttered to myself over and over again, huddled in the corner of the room in fetal position.

“Owww-how-hooowww…! Sensei, that was too loud…!” I could hear Toko in the back, probably covering her poor human ears. I don’t care. She’s wearing pink. Why is she wearing PINK!? WHAT KIND OF NINJA WEARS PINK!?

“Why would a ninja wear pink? That’s stupid! That’s like wearing orange! Only stupid ninjas wear orange!” I continued to rant.

“S-Sensei!? I-It’s okay, there’s a reason why I’m wearing this! Sensei!? Sensei!” Toko shook my shoulders. I’m not answering. I refuse to answer. What is this madness!? What realm of chaos did I fall into where ninjas are wearing the most obvious colors!? “Oh no…! S-Somebody help! Sensei’s gone into shock!” The sound of Toko’s footsteps grew distant.

“Real ninja wear blue.” I continued to repeat, “Real ninja wear blue, real ninja wear blue, real ninja wear blue, real ninja wear blue, real ninja wear blue, real ninja wear blue, real ninja wear blue, real ninja wear blue, real ninja wear blue, real ninja wear blue, real ninja wear blue, real ninja wear blue, real ninja wear blue, real ninja wear blue, real ninja--”

“Wakey-wakey!!”

“GUGH!?!” I choked out a loud grunt as something flat and metal smacked me on top of the head with a comical *CLONG!!*, “ _NANDAIYO!?_ ” I quickly stood up and turned around while rubbing my head to massage the headache that brought me back to reality. Borky, with the two-handed sword ‘Raunfalt’ drawn, and Toko stood before me. “Oh, Borky, it’s just you. I must have gone off the deep end. What happened?”

“You, um… Kind of snapped when you saw me in my shinobi garb.” Toko answered. She turned to Borky and bowed to him. “Thank you, Borky.”

“No problem.” Borky smiled, placing Raunfalt on his back. The sword was shaking furiously. Ah, that’s right, Raunfalt contained the spirit of its previous master, a Cloud Giant of the same name. A king at that. He must be really angry that Borky swords him as a glorified beating stick to bring out of my madness. “Now if you excuse me, I’m off to my favorite chef.” With that unnecessary declaration, he left the training room. “Oh Mr. Borpington~!”

I simply put a talon on the bright of my beak and sighed. “Well, looks like we have a long way to go.” I let out an amused chuckle, looking to Toko with a smug grin. Looking at her now, I noticed that she has her Fuuma Shuriken mounted on her hips. “So what’s with the fuuma shuriken? You’re not seriously thinking of training with those, are you?”

“Yes, actually.” Toko nodded her head. “Back home, we were taught in the art of combat by using real weapons against an animate training dummy called an Inpachi.” Wait, what? Animate training dummies? As in they could move and fight back? That sounds a lot like a Construct. “Of course, I didn’t have Fuuma Shuriken at the time, just standard ninja weapons.”

“So what’s the story about the shuriken themselves?” I continued to ask.

Toko was quiet, looking to the side with a hand on her chin, pondering if she should reveal that much of her village’s secrets. She shook her head and looked at me again. “Fuuma Shuriken are a symbol of great honor and achievement in the Shinokaze. They’re expensive to make, so they’re only given to those who have excelled at the top of their class, and even then you have to be really, really good to receive one. Each Fuuma is given a name by their master.” He drew her weapons and held them out to present to me. “Although in my case, these were given to me by my eldest brother as a graduation gift. As you know, I’m not that great, so I couldn’t get a Fuuma Shuriken by myself.”

“What do you call them?” I simply asked her again. I want to hear as much of this as possible without getting too deep into it. I can sense a strong trust within her if she’s willing to reveal this much. She’s foolish, but she’s formed some sort of connection with me ever since that fight with Meathead in the Hoketh Temple.

“Shikibu and Shonagon.” Toko answered. She lowered her Fuumas until they were held close to the hips. “But back to my training...” She looked around to see the training room at its fullest. Given what she’s revealed to me, it must be strange that she only sees ordinary training equipment. Just what kind of training did she endure if her former clan uses a Construct opponent of all things? “Does this mean I won’t be needing my weapons?”

“You won’t need the shuriken, no.” I answer her with a no. Quite frankly, I’m glad she won’t be using them on me. They were basically four daggers on a wheel. “We’ll just be using normal training swords. I want to see just how capable you are. There’s a table over there for you to set aside you Fuumas.” I pointed to the table in question as I was going to the rack of training swords. A pair of shortswords should do just fine. I made sure to check the quality of the swords before I actually put them to use. Some dust aside, I don’t see any rot on the surface, and no sign of termites getting their grubby little jaws into the wood either. Just a nice, clean, whitish-brown sheen. Of course, I bent the swords a bit to test their durability, see if there was rot on the inside of the training swords. Once again, there was nothing wrong with the sword. A few swings from left to right, and right to left. Excellent, the balance and weight are ideal.

Well preserved for something that’s gone unused for a while.

I grabbed a second shortsword training sword and returned to the sparring mat in the center of the room, where Toko stood waiting on one side. I handed her a sword and moved over to the opposite side of her. She was examining the sword carefully before giving it a few test swings. I could see it in the motions of her arms and balance. Her shoulders and hands tensed up right before she swung, and her balance wobbled a bit at the end of the swing as if she could not keep her footing. She said and shook her head, looking at her sword with a disappointed look on her face. “I’m already in trouble...” I could hear her mumbling under her breath. She’s giving up already? Was her self-confidence that lacking? That might explain a bit about how easy it was to expose her deception from the interview. That was definitely going to be something I’m going to work on.

“Come at me any time you’re ready.” I beckoned to me. I reached out my hand and made the ‘come at me’ gesture before taking on a fighting stance. I’ll admit, I was being cocky and smug about this. Toko looked at me for a second before letting out a sigh and took up a stance of her own. She took a deep breath and rushed at me.

“Hyah!” Toko opened up with a vertical slash. Her joints locked and tensed up as she pulled up. That was a mistake. Keeping her arms loose, I parried with an upper slash. The sound of wooden blades clashing together echoed across the room with a resounding cracking noise. My parry through Toko off balance as her sword and arms launched back up and sent her stumbling back by a few steps.

I took two steps forward and swung from right to left while she was off-balance. She held up her sword vertically to try and block. But the force in my swing was greater than she was prepared for, and she was pushed back further, and the sword was sent flying out of her hand. “O-Oh no!” She exclaimed while looking at her lost weapon. I pulled back my sword, pointing it toward her, and thrusted forward at her chest. “Ahhhh!!” She screamed as she raised her arms up to her head to protect herself. I stopped my thrust right before it made physical contact with her, and lightly pushed it against her.

“You lose.” I simply tell her before pulling back my sword. “If that was a real sword, you would have died right then and there.” I explained to her the result of that short-live spar. “I know you only graduated recently, and you’ve admitted to not being the most skilled, but what was that? That was the worst display of swordsmanship I’ve seen.” That’s rich coming from me too, because I’ve had nothing but a string of bad luck and letting the Scary Acid Dagger of Stab slip from my fingers when I needed it the most, and that one time I accidentally dropped Nick in a frozen lake.

“... This was a bad idea.” Toko mumbled, taking another step away from me. Oh no, I am NOT letting her give up so quickly. I approached her and put a hand on her shoulder.

“Toko, you’re giving up too quickly. First day of training is always rough. Always.” I lecture her before taking my hand off of her, “I’m not mad at you either. I just want to know what was wrong. The other week, you were wielding Shonagon and Shikibu like they were a part of your body. But today, you wielded a wooden shortsword as if it was completely foreign to you. Your balance was completely off, your body was tense, and you were holding it as if it was planning to escape.” I pondered for a moment, stroking the chin of my beak in deep thought. It was so strange. She can wield what has to be the most impractical weapon that a ninja could use, and yet she can’t wield one of the most practical weapons in the entire world. Unless… I look at her again. “When was the last time you held a sword?”

Toko bit her lower lip and looked to the side before looking at me and spoke, “Five months ago. I sold my shortsword shortly after traveling across the sea from the Eastern Isles. I needed the money during my journey to Alivast. I’ve been depending on Shonagon and Shikibu ever since.”

I let out a sigh and shook my head. “Crippling specialization. The bane of all warriors.” I looked over to the dropped sword and walked over to pick it up, then walked back to my student and returned it to her. She accepted the sword without hesitation. Good. Her self-confidence is lacking, but her spirit is still strong enough to want to keep going. “In that case, I will teach you how to hold a sword again.”

“If it’s swordsmanship that I’ll be learning...” Toko paused for a moment, suddenly acting like she spoke out of turn and expected me to punish her. I gestured to her to keep going with my talon. “Um, right.” She took a deep breath to relax her shoulders, “If it’s sword training, wouldn’t a swordsman be the best choice to teach me? You’re so famous and beloved in Alivast, you must know somebody.”

“I do, but nobody that would consider...” I stopped for a moment and started to think. No, there is one person I know that would be really helpful in this. I cracked a smile and looked at her, “You know what? I think there is somebody that could teach you to help a sword better than me. I’ll be right back. Until then, practice your swings and try to relax your body. You’ll waste your energy as long as you’re tense.”

“Yes, Sensei.” Toko nodded and began to practice, starting by making vertical swings as she stepped forward, and stepped back to reset her posture. She’s familiar with kenjutsu. At the very least she’s familiar with the basics of kenjutsu. Well, to say nothing else, the knowledge and skill she currently possesses will make my job as her sensei easier. I wonder if she knows Sojutsu and Bojutsu?

As soon as I left the training room, I noticed that the Sweet Dragon had already gotten busy. Customers were filling the Common Room and Bar. I can see Borky and Task watching over things while Panic was in the middle of dueling guitars with another Bard on the stage in the corner. Seems like everything is peaceful out here. Well, about as peaceful as you can get in a traverse full of rough and tumble adventurers.

I quietly skulked up to the second floor and to my room, making sure that nobody was following me before I stuck my talon onto the tongue of the lion head hanging on the door. A special locking mechanism that only the owners of the Sweet Dragon--meaning myself, Borky, Panic, and Task--can use in order to get to the bedrooms beyond this point. I went into my room and looked around for a piece of parchment and a quill to write with.

Making sure I had ink worth ten gold, I performed the three hand signs in order to cast Illusory Script. Some would call me paranoid for writing a perfectly innocent letter, but Toko and I had been attacked by a Bounty Hunter hired to kill her. If her assailants are still out there, it would be smart to keep the message hidden in case it was intercepted. “Dear Sir Remus Corbeau...” I start to write, “It has been a while since we last spoke. Me and the guys are doing fine. I have taken in a pupil and begun to teach her the way of the Shinobi. I would appreciate it if you can find the time to help her learn the way of swordsmanship. I cannot go into too much detail in this letter in case this message is intercepted. I will tell you about it in person. From, Greckles Birdman.” I finished writing the letter. With Illusory Script, everybody else will think this is being sent to ‘Sir Pumpernickel Strongarm’, written by ‘Freckles Catguy’.

Completely ridiculous names, but this is Alivast, I’ve met plenty of people with outrageous names as much as my friends have. Some even more ridiculous than what’s in the message.

With the message done, I headed back downstairs and checked on Toko real quick to make sure nothing happened while I was away. Nope, she was still practicing her swordsmanship. Already gone from basic slashing to now pretending to be fighting an invisible foe. “Ha! Tyah! Hyah! Take this!” I couldn’t help but crack a grin at her antics. She’s already mixing her sword strikes with punches and kicks to try and throw off her imaginary opponent. She’s even smiling and having fun.

I shouldn’t disturb her. I walked away from the training room and got out the Welch Signal, a magic stone my friends and I have had ever since we became friends with the Alivast Guard. A lengthy story, and a rough one involving a cart chase from way back in our early days in Alivast. In any case, we were given this in the event that we need Welch to help send a message for us. As such, we jokingly named the stone after him.

I took a step outside of the Sweet Dragon, making sure the coast was clear, and tossed the stone up in the air as high as I could. The stone shimmered upon reaching a certain altitude and exploded like a signal flare. I kept my hand up to shield my eyes until the explosion disappeared. I could see a glimmer of light quickly coming back down to me. I reached out and caught the stone in my hand.

With the signal made, I simply waited in front of the building, sitting next to Zenis Oki, a pudgy living drawing of a bird. Nothing much to it, it’s just a series of soft red outlines shaped into a bird and a sign that says ‘Zenis Oki’. He was given to us by a friend from ways back. I wonder how he’s doing? Last time we ever saw him was--

“What’s up, Blue?” A voice broke my train of thought and my attention snapped to the source. 

“Hey there, Welch.” I said to him, greeting him with a hand shake. I held the letter up to him. “I got a message for Remy. Think you can get it to him as soon as you can?”

“I don’t think that’ll be a problem.” Welch took the letter from me with a smirk. “Last time I checked, he was still with his family. I’ll send you a reply if he writes one.”

“Thank you, Welch.” I bowed to him. He took off running, deftly dodging the civilians as he was disappearing into the distance. “And watch out for fruit stands!” I shouted to him. Welch was great at what he does, but he’s been known to crash into fruit stands during his job. To the point that I crashed into one myself once upon a time and the Alivast Guard mistook me for him.

With a chuckle and headshake, I go back into the Sweet Dragon and return to the training room. Toko was breathing heavily and sweating a bit. I look away for a little bit, and she’s already managed to tire herself out? Well, she’s not hunching over and staying on her feet, so that shows that she has some stamina to spare. “I’m back.” I tell her. “You looked like you were having fun fighting your imaginary foe.”

“Y-You saw that, huh?” Toko smiled nervously. “I’ll admit, I haven’t had this much fun in a long time.” That’s an understatement. You spent over six months on the run. “I take it you got what you needed to do was dealt with?”

“Indeed I did.” I answered while approaching her. I put a hand on her head, making her blush a bit. “If all goes well, you might just have somebody to teach you swordsmanship. Sword styles that are not native to the Eastern Isles. You might even become a better fighter.” Of course, she won’t need it if her stealth is any good. For a shinobi, combat is an absolute last resort. “He’s a captain, and a very near and dear friend of mine. You can expect him to be tough on you.”

“I’m more than prepared for it, Sensei.” Toko nodded her head, keeping a look of determination to see her training to the end.

“Excellent.” I gently patted her on the head twice. “Come on. Let’s have some lunch. I’ve been wanting to try your sushi again.” I turned around and walked toward the door. Just as I was about to reach the door though…

“Um… About that...” I turned back to Toko, who was rubbing her arm and looking at the floor, off to the side slightly. Wait, why is she expressing guilt all of a sudden? “I have a confession to make. I… I didn’t make that sushi you had back during the interview.” … Wait… What…? “I bought it from a place called the Tiger Restaurant with what little money I had left. I was very desperate for a job and had to go that far with my trickery.”

“Toko...” I choked out, as a single tear rolled down my cheek. How… How could she? It’s no wonder that sushi was as good as Mr. Bwakkaw’s sushi. Because it _was_ his sushi.

“S-Sensei!?” Toko gasped and quickly approached me, taking off one of the ends of her scarf and raised it to my cheek to wipe away my tear. I simply grabbed her hand before she could get close to it. “S… Sensei? Are you going to be okay?”

“Yeah.” I straight up lied. “I’m going to be okay. Come on, let’s go have lunch. And this time, I want some sushi of your own making.”

“Of course, Sensei.” Toko nodded her head. “I might not meet Chef Borpington's skill at cooking, but I promise to restore your smile.”

I simply nodded to her and we left the training room together.

I have never felt so betrayed in my life.


	5. Training’s cancelled, let’s hit the market

“Hyah!” Toko raises her training sword and swings down.

“Predictable!” Her opponent parried and knocked her back a bit before she came back in with a flurry of sword swings, all being deftly blocked and parried with ease. “What have Greckles and I been telling you for the past week?” He criticizes the pink-cladded shinobi-in-training, “Don’t limit yourself to just your standard attacks!”

“Yes, Captain!” Toko acknowledged and displayed a masterful example of quickly adapting, her stance becoming more flighty, almost like she was dancing instead of fighting. She was changing how she was handling her sword, sometimes switching to a reverse grip when she needs to go on the defensive.

I was sitting to the side observing, sitting in Fudoza, ‘the immovable seat’. Toko’s opponent was a Falcon Kenku dress in purple garb with gold trim. A very knightley fellow, and a very good friend of mine. Remus Corbeau, although everybody just calls him Remy. If I had to describe him at a glance, he was essentially the exact opponent of me, but in all in a good way. Where I am possibly the most pragmatic jerk by trade, Remy is honorable and follows a code to a fault.

That’s strange. Toko’s only using her right arm and trying to move her left arm as little as possible. She’s even clenching her teeth at the slightest movement of her left arm. Something was wrong here.

Toko whiffed her swing, allowing Remy to slip right behind her. “You’re sloppy!” Remy proclaims as he swung and struck Toko’s left shoulder.

“AGGGHHH!!” Toko let out an agonizing scream and dropped her sword, clutching onto her shoulder and fell to her knees. I knew it, something was wrong with her!

“ _Yanbe!_ ” I shouted, getting up and running to my student. Remy tossed aside the sword and ran to her side as well. “Toko, what’s wrong? That wasn’t a normal reaction.” I asked her immediately.

“I-It’s nothing...” Toko answered, gritting her teeth and tearing up.

“It’s not nothing.” Remy called out her lie, “The way you reacted was not normal, and you’re gripping her shoulder tight.” He shook his head as he spoke up. “Let me see your shoulder.” Toko looked at him for a second before closing her eyes and nodded, allowing Remy to carefully adjust her kimono to reveal her shoulder. He gasped in surprise. “Greckles, you need to see this. Toko is injured.”

“What!?” My eyes went wide, and I moved over to where I could see her shoulder. Remy wasn’t kidding about Toko being injured. There was a large bruise on her shoulder, and slightly swollen. “How bad is it, Remy? Does she need to see a healer?”

“Fortunately, no.” Remy answered as he was looking at the injury intently, “I’ve seen this kind of injury during my training days. A simple Potion of Healing would fix this. But still, from the size and coloring, she’s had this for some time now, and she left it to heal naturally.” His eyes turned to Toko. “Young lady, how long ago did you receive this?”

“... For several days now.” Toko sighed in defeat. She was trying to keep this a secret now.

“How?” I simply asked her.

“I tried to get in some secret training.” She answered, “I snuck into the training room one night and used one fo the mops as a spear.” She shook her head and continued to explain herself, “I tripped up and accidentally hit my shoulder.”

“Again with your deceptions.” I simply shook my head and patted her head. “We seriously need to get you to stop, Task is going to get angry if you keep this up.”

“I’m sorry, Sensei, Captain Remy.” Toko apologized. “I didn’t want to worry you, so I tried to tough it out.”

“You were foolish, young lady.” Remy said, covering Toko’s injury and helping stand her back up. “You should have told us you were hurt first thing.”

“He’s right.” I followed up his scolding, standing up myself. “A ninja’s name consists of two kanji meaning ‘person of endurance’. But even ninjas have medicine for every possible slight to the human body, and you had access to remedies for your shoulder injury.”

“Yes, Sensei.” Toko acknowledged, clearly ashamed of what she had done.

“Good.” I folded my arms and nodded. “No more training for the day. I’ll get you a potion of healing, but you’re spending the rest of the day recovering.” I looked up to Remy, “My friend, can you tend to her while I fetch the potion?”

“Of course. It’s my fault for striking her injury, however ignorant I was.” Remy nodded with a smile. He looked down to Toko and escorted her back to her room.

\-----

**(Toko’s Point of View)**

“Ouch…!” I yelped as Remy was wrapping the bandage over my shoulder. Wrappings were tightly wrapped over my chest and left shoulder. I’m not unfamiliar with injuries, and how seriously they must be treated, but it doesn’t change the fact that it hurts.

“Stay strong. I’m almost finished.” Remy told me as he gave the wrap another tug, causing me to wince from the pain once more, before tying a knot to finally hold it on. “There we go. How does it feel?”

“Painful.” I said bitterly as I pulled my kimono back together. Since my training is over for the day, and most likely for the next few days, I had changed back to my civilian attire. “But I’ll get over it. It’s not as bad as it looked.” That was a bald face lie. It was just as bad as it looked. I place my right hand onto my left shoulder. Upon touching my shoulder, I instantly winced and inhaled sharply from the pain.

“It would be best to leave that shoulder alone.” Remy advised me, using his hand to take mine off my shoulder. Next thing he did was take off his cape and… Wait, what is he doing? He was wrapping his cape around my injured arm several times before pulling it over and under my right shoulder, back to my arm, to which did two more wraps around my arm and tied a tight knot.

“Captain… What is this?” I asked him, pointing to this… thing, he did with his cape.

“It’s an arm sling. A practice we use for people with an injured arm.” Remy answered. “Greckles told me you were a recent shinobi graduate. Didn’t you know this when you were taught medicine?”

“... No, actually.” I answered, biting my lower lip. “I was only taught medicine specifically for slights against the body. Sickness, disease, minor and moderate wounds… Things that could be healed quickly.”

“Hmm… Your clan’s education is rather questionable then.” Remy mused, gazing off into the wall in front of us, scratching his chin. “But you did say your clan had brutal standards, so they must have only given teachings fitting for your level of skill. Rather, what they thought was fitting. But that is beside the point. While we’re waiting on Greckles, I want to talk to you.”

I took a deep breath and calmly exhaled. Here it comes, the part where I’m going to be chastised for my poor decision. I’ve seen more than enough times back home.

“Just what possessed you into thinking it was okay to hide your injury like that?” Remy began to scold me, “I almost had a heart attack when I struck you. Thank the gods your shoulder is only bruised and swollen, I feared that I had swung too hard and broke your shoulder.”

“I told you, I didn’t want to worry you and Sensei.” I answered him.

Remy shook his head, “I know that, but… No, this will only have us going in circles.” He let out a deep sigh, pinching the bridge between his eyes and softly shaking his head. “I just… I just can’t believe you would do this to yourself. Greckles said that Shinobi were people of endurance, but even I, a knight and captain of a fledgling Gryphon Rider Corp, know that this is not endurance. Yes, you were training in secret, but you were trying to self-improve of your own free will. You’re punishing yourself for something that doesn’t need to be punished.”

I remained silent. What was I supposed to say to that? All I could do was hang my head in shame.

“Look...” Remy began to speak, putting an arm around me and leaned toward me. “I don’t know what life was like for you back in your clan. It could have been harsh or comfortable, for all I know. But I can tell that you carry a heavy burden on your shoulders, and that _something_ has driven you to flee from your clan. It’s making you behave irrationally and make poor decisions.”

“Then what am I supposed to do?” I spoke up. My voice was trembling. My hands were trembling. “I’ve only been here for little over a month and I still can’t get the first step right.”

“Forgive yourself.” Remy told me right away. Almost like he was expecting me to ask that question. “Forgive yourself for being weak. Forgive yourself for being afraid. It’s okay to have those moments. Greckles, Task, Borky, Panic, and even myself, have all had moments in our lives where we were powerless, moments where we were afraid beyond all reason.” He patted my shoulder. I looked up to see his smile. “These things happen, Toko. As long as you have the will to stand back up and keep marching, you’ll grow stronger from it. Both as a warrior, and as a person.”

“I...” I tried to say something to him. But I was cut short by the sound of my bedroom door being opened. Remy and I looked to see Greckles coming in with a Potion of Healing in hand.

“I’m back.” Greckles announced. He approached me, holding out a potion for me to take. “I see Remy’s been making sure your injury is properly taken care of.” He was no doubt referring to the sling Remy made with his cape. I took the potion from him. “Drink it slowly. I told the guys what happened. No work until your arm is better. Of course, this means you won’t be paid either.”

“I’m fully aware, and I’m used to living without money.” I told sensei just before I took my first sip of the potion. It was bitter. It tasted like cherries. It was bitter and tasted like cherries. What is this sorcery? Potions back home didn’t taste this decent. Whatever. That was the last of my problems now. “Is Master Task angry with me?” I asked Greckles.

“He was banging his head against the wall and ranted about how you’re still lying even when you agreed it had to stop.” He explained what was going on outside. I’m… actually surprised he reacted like that. Because I haven’t heard any loud booms or Task’s shouting. Was I just too far? “He says he’s going to give you a personal training session as punishment once you're healed. I’d prepare yourself if I were you, Task was a quartermaster and trained plenty of soldiers.”

Oh joy, I’m going to re-experience training from Hell. At least there’s not much that Master Task can do to me. There’s only training weapons, target boards, and weights in the training room. “I understand.” I simply say before taking another sip. Still, it does suck that I’m also unable to work on top of not being able to train. I knew having an injury was bad, but I didn’t think it would have this much of an effect on my life.

“Just stay here and let the potion do its work.” Greckles ordered me, smiling at me. “I need to help the guys run the business. I’ll check on you once the lunch rush has settled down.”

“I believe my business here is done as well.” Remy said as he stood up from the bed. “I’ve been meaning to talk to Borky about managing a business with the Cheesery.” As the two Kenku were leaving, Remy turned back and spoke to me. “This is also a good chance to think about our conversation. Like I said, as long as you have the will to stand back up and keep marching...”

“... I’ll grow stronger for it, both as a warrior and as a person.” I finished his sentence.

“Excellent. Until we meet again.” Remy flashed me a nod and a thumbs up before closing the door behind him.

Well, here I am again. Alone in my room, waiting for something to happen. “Ah… Haaaah…!” I yawned all of a sudden. I must be tired. Did I not get enough sleep last night? Then again, I did go in swinging pretty hard on Captain Remy, despite the handicap I placed on myself for my mistake. Although I was training in secrecy until now, and that sank a bit into the time I should be sleeping.

… Yeah, it was definitely from a lack of sleep. It’s the one that makes the most sense. I just shook my head and drank some more of the potion. How sloppy of me. I was trained to be a shinobi, I should have known better than to not be well rested. It was in my scrolls that a ninja must be well rested, and should even take naps before going on a mission. My training with Greckles and Remy, and even my job in the Sweet Dragon are no exception to this.

I decided to down the rest of my potion, making sure I was able to get every last drop. Once the potion was empty, I set it aside on my night stand and lay down on the bed, making sure I was lying on my back and rolled onto my right side. With my left shoulder injured, I needed to avoid putting weight on it. Which means I won’t be able to the side where my heart it for better protect

… Yeah, no more secret training, this stupid injury is really frustrating.

For now, I’m just going to close my eyes and get some sleep. I’m sure Greckles will wake me up when he checks on me.

[-----]

_“I DID IT!!” I cheered as I was jumping with joy, scroll in hand, and running through the forest. Cherry blossom petals were falling from the trees surrounding me, the sun beaming down on me from the brilliant blue skies above._

_I wasn’t the greatest student in my class. I’ve studied adamantly, listened to my teachers intently, and suffered many stumbles and failures, and I was assigned an average rank and non-combat position in the clan. But I did it. The day I had worked my butt off for was finally here._

_I leapt once more, throwing myself into a pile of cherry blossoms. The pile was so thick that I was able to make a snow angel out of it._

_“Tokooooo!” My mother’s voice called out. I looked back to see a silhouette waving a fair distance from me. I stood back up and ran back to her, rushing into her arms for a hug. “Goodness, sweetie, I know it’s your graduation, but you’re really taking this seriously.”_

_“Come on Homura, let her have this.” My father said to my mother. He was also a silhouette. In fact, I was surrounded by silhouettes. six to be exact. My mother and father, two smaller ones to my left, and two slightly taller ones on my right._

_I couldn’t see who they were, but I recognized their voices. Their kindness. The happiness they were exhibiting. This was my family, who supported me through better and worse._

_“Hey, Toko...” My older brother said to me, getting my attention, “I got you something. It wasn’t easy getting these made without the council catching on, buuuut...” From behind him, he produced a pair of Fuuma Shuriken, “Ta-da~! A pair of Fuuma, straight from the old man at the blacksmith. They’re both yours, ready and waiting for you to name them.”_

_I gasped with joy. My eyes were twinkling with delight as I was gifted my own Fuuma. By our clan’s tradition, I did not qualify to have a Fuuma Shuriken. But my eldest brother… He went out of his way to get a pair made for me. “Thank you so much, Ryoma--” I reached out for the Fuuma Shuriken._

[-----]

“Ouch!” I yelped as a surge of pain in my shoulder snapped me out of my sleep. I quickly stood up and caressed my aching shoulder. Kami curse it all, did I hurt my shoulder in my sleep, or did it decide to torment me on its own?

I looked around. I was back in my bedroom of the Sweet Dragon. I let out a heavy sigh and lied back down, staring up at the ceiling. I was scowling as I mumbled to myself, “I was having such a good dream, too...”

There was a knock on the door. “I’m coming in.” The door opened and Greckles poked his head in first. “Are you doing… Oh, were you taking a nap?”

“I was.” I answered, sitting back up. “But the pain in my shoulder woke me up. I was having a good dream, too.”

“A dream, you say?” Greckles mused, scratching the bottom of his beak before fully stepping inside and taking a seat on the bed next to me. “What kind of dream was it? Do you still remember what it was?”

“Yeah.” I nodded to him. “It was a dream of home. The day I had graduated. A whole month before I became a Nukenin.” I began to explain what I dreamed. “I was running through the forest with the biggest smile on my face. The cherry blossoms were especially abundant that day.” I was smiling as I recounted the dream. I think this was the first time in a long time that I have smiled. It was rather nice. “My family was all there as well, and my eldest brother gave me Shonagon and Shikibu, although they were unnamed Fuuma Shuriken at the time.”

“Only the one the Fuumas were meant for can name them.” Greckles said with a smile. He reached an arm around me and patted my good shoulder. “What was your family like?”

“They were a loving, happy family. Almost something out of a fairy tale.” I didn’t mind talking to him about my family. “There was my father, Seto Amago, and my mother Homura Amagi. My little sister and brother, Momo and Taro.” Greckles snickered at the mention of those names. I looked at him with a slight scowl, “Yes, yes, it’s very punny, quit giggling, they were cinnamon rolls. Anyway...” I took a deep breath to regain my thoughts, “And there was my older sister, Fujiko Amagi, and my eldest brother, Ryuga Amagi.”

“Two parents and five children, with you as the middle sibling.” Greckles thought out loud, counting everybody in my family with his talons. He looked at me and simply gave me a headpat. “It must have been tough having to live with that many people.”

“I didn’t mind it at all.” I told him as I took his hand off my head. “Ryuga was the best out of all of us, as expected from the oldest sibling. Graduated at the top of his class and got his Fuuma Shuriken. Of course, it wasn’t easy for him to get a Fuuma for me, much less two. Both he and the Blacksmith had to be careful. The council wasn’t very fond of breaking tradition.”

Greckles cracked a grin, and patted my head again. “A stubborn council, huh? I can understand how that feels. I used to put up with one myself before coming to Alivast.”

“Can you stop giving me headpats?” I said to him with a pout, “The times you’ve done that are getting excessive.”

“As soon as you stop leaving your head defenseless.” Greckles said with a chuckle.

I simply sighed and smiled at him. “Was there something you needed from me?” I asked him rather bluntly.

“There is, actually.” Greckles confirmed as he took his hand off my head again. “Mr. Borpington told us that he was running low on ingredients. Borky and I are going to go to the market to get what he needs. Remy’s coming along to help him understand how to run a business. I wanted to see if you wanted to come along.”

“Would that really be wise?” I asked, pointing to my bad shoulder. “Isn’t it unwise for me to go outside when I’m vulnerable?”

“It’s just a trip to the market, Toko.” He chuckled, “You’ll be just fine as long you stay close to us. Besides, you’ve been cooped up in the Sweet Dragon for almost a month now. Wouldn't it be nice to spend that money you’ve been saving up on clothes, tools, or weapons? Or heck, just something nice to liven up your bedroom. With the exception of your scrolls and hammock, this room is barebones. You’re not a prisoner, you don’t have to act like one.”

I pouted at him. It’s true that I need to replace all my old weapons and tools, but did he have to bring up my room? I looked around and… Yeah, just a bunch of empty wooden walls, a bed, hammock that I like to sleep in from time to time… It’s barely improved from when the Unexpectables locked me in here for interrogation.

I looked down at what I was wearing. Greckles was right, I needed new clothes. I only have this, my ninja uniform, and a second set of common clothes. “Alright, you’ve made your point. I’ll come with you. But I’m taking my mask with me.”

“Snrk…!” Greckles snickered, a hand around his beck to not laugh out loud, “That rabbit mask you had from the interview? I thought you grew used to being around others without it?”

“The people of the Sweet Dragon are one thing, the public is another!” I immediately protested. I took a quick, calming breath before speaking again, “And besides… That bounty hunter from that old temple might not be the Shinokaze’s only attempt to kill me anon. It would be smart to keep my face hidden. I’d rather we not have to fight when we’re just minding our own business.”

“That’s just fine. We’ll be waiting out front. Don’t take too long.” Greckles said to me. He stood up and walked out of the room.

I took a quick breath, and exhaled. Well, I guess I’m doing this. I stood up and walked over to where my things are, getting out my cloak and putting it around my shoulders. It wasn’t easy, given I only have my right arm to use, but it was still manageable. I grabbed my rabbit mask and put it on my face, and pulled the hood of my cloak over my head to fully obscure my identity.

Now that I’m adequately obscured, and making sure the cloak is hiding my bad arm, I get the small sack of gold I’ve been saving up from its hiding place and left the room to go join Sensei and the others. Looks like our departure couldn’t be any more well timed. The Sweet Dragon was much more active than usual. We have to hurry before Chef Borpington is cleaned out of food.

Or worse.

We only have carrots for dinner.

“Huuugh...” I groaned and shuddered at the very idea of such a horrible meal coming to pass, so I picked up the pace and met Greckles, Borky, and Remy all waiting at the entrance for me. “I’m here.” I announced with a soft, but serious tone. “I didn’t keep you waiting, did I?”  
  
“Not at all.” Greckles answered, “We were just confirming just what it is that we need.”

“Looks like we’ll be traveling to other parts of the Lower District.” Remy said, going over the list, “Some of these ingredients are not sold in the market. Some of these herbs are from the Druid District. Nothing illegal, I hope.”

“If it was, I don’t think he would put this on the list in the first place.” Greckles said.

“Well, come on now, let’s get goin’!” Borky said, grabbing Greckles and Remy by their shoulders and quickly dragged them out. “The more time we spend here, the more likely Mr. Borpington is gonna run out of food!” Greckles and Remy would protest at their Orc friend, but their complaints fell on deaf ears. I quietly followed, making sure to not be behind them and in their blind spot.

I looked up to the sky. Clear skies, which is rather surprising, considering how long the clouds hung over Alivast. I could even see the sun. It was almost noon by the time we finally reached the market. Only a few stalls were opened, all ran by merchants who could stand the winter cold, be it from natural resistance or winter clothing. Plenty of customers were about as well, although what really surprised me is that I could see reptilian races, like Kobolds and Dragonborn, still out and about. Aren’t Kobolds and Dragonborn cold-blooded? It’s not safe for them to be out here, even if the weather has eased up today.

… Oh crap, I just realized something significantly important. “Um… Sensei?” I tap him on the shoulder, getting his attention. “I… Uh… This is embarrassing for me to say, but I don’t know how Alivast’s currency works.”

“... Wait, what?” Greckles blinked at me in confusion. “You lived here for two weeks before moving into the Sweet Dragon. How did you survive not knowing how buying stuff here works?” I _really_ shouldn’t answer that question. It mostly involved stealing, an extremely cautious exercise in rationing my food, and finding fruits and veggies that could somehow grow in this frigid region Greckles sighed and began to speak, “Alright, it’s simple to under--”

“Don’t worry, Toko!” Borky spoke up with a big goofy smile, cutting off what Greckles was trying to say with a hard slap on his back. “Uncle Borky’s here to teach ya the ways of Alivast!” … Wait, what!? UNCLE!?

“ _Uncle_ Borky!?” I exclaimed in shock, “W-W-Wait a minute! Th-There’s no way you could be my uncle! We’re not even the same race, much less related by blood! I come from an All-Human family for crying out loud!”

“Now you see, Toko...” He begins his explanation. Of course he ignored everything I said. I could see Captain Remy slapping a talon over his face and grumble a hush ‘and so it begins’ from under his breath. “In Alivast, we use these things called copper pieces, silver pieces, gold pieces, and the incredibly rare platinum pieces.” Borky, I know this, I work in the Sweet Dragon. I know what Alivast’s money looks like and what it’s called. The problem is that I never had to use it until now. “When there’s something you want to buy something, you walk up to the merchant and tell me ‘excuse me mister, I’d like to buy this thing, please.’ Then they’ll tell you how much you owe them and give them the appropriate amount.” Most. Useless. Knowledge. Ever. I already know how buying stuff works, but I don’t--!

“B-Borky! Borky, please! Borky!” Greckles finally got Borky’s attention after several repeated callings of his name. “I don’t think that’s the problem. Let me handle this, please.”

“Oh, sure, go ahead.” Borky steps aside and lets Greckles be the one to teach me. Finally, somebody with a brain bigger than a soybean.

“Okay, going off of what Borky was saying, let me break down the currency for you. A single platinum piece is worth about ten gold pieces. Still with me?” I nodded my head to Greckles. “A single gold piece is about 10 silver pieces, and a single silver piece is 10 copper pieces. It takes 100 copper pieces for a single gold piece.”

“Okay, I understand.” I nodded my head to Greckles. The numbers are a bit of a headache, but I was raised into a lifestyle where our very missions hinged on doing our math and praying to the Kami that we did our numbers right. 10 copper for silver, 100 copper for gold, 1,000 copper for platinum. Just need to add an extra zero for each higher valued piece.

This will come in handy. For all the money I’ve saved from working, as well as picking up any coins I found on the ground during my shifts, I have about 200 gold on the nose. Ugh, I’m already giving myself a headache from doing so much math in such a short amount of time. “Can we go run our errands now?”

“Thank you!” Captain Remy exclaimed in frustration, getting all of our attention on him. That was… rather uncharacteristic of him. He cleared his throat and spoke normally. “Forgive me. I just haven’t had the best of mornings today. I didn’t mean to take it out on you guys.” I get the feeling he wasn’t talking about injuring my shoulder either. “Come now, gentlemen, let’s hurry while we still have daylight.”

We were visiting each stall and store we saw that most likely had the food and supplies Mr. Borpington needed on his list. Some red radishes, cabbage, a few meats… ugh, carrots… There were even some fruit and veggies I recognized from back home. Like daikon, some green onion, buntan, kabu turnips, and even negi leeks of all things. Most of the store clerks have been very pleasant. Some gruffer than others, and then there was one store clerk who looked like he was ready to get his crossbow and yell at us to get off his lawn.

“Pssst! Hey, Toko.” Greckles whispered to me. He was snickering and had the biggest grin on his face as he held up a kabu we just bought with all of its leaves lucked off, stem and everything. “Check this out.” He stuck up behind Borky and tapped his on the shoulder, and quickly moved to the side so Borky doesn’t see him when he turns his head.

The blue Grackle then poked his finger and thumb into Borky’s ear and quickly pulled them back out. With the trick of his hand, he pulled out the leafless turnip and held it up as Borky quickly looked toward Greckles, covering the ear he was poked in and scowled. “What did you go and do that for, Greks?”

“I got your brain, Borky~” Greckles teased his friend with such an unapologetic tone, showing the orc the ‘brain’ in question.

“Hey! Give that back!” Borky shouted in protest, making repeated attempts to take back the turnip from his blue feathered friend.

“Snrk…!” I accidentally snorted and quickly looked away, covering my mouth as I did. Well, I tried to cover it anyway. My rabbit mask got in the way. Darn it, Greckles! That is such a dad joke! How dare you get a laugh out of me!

It was at that moment I looked away that something from a shop window caught my eye. I stopped laughing and slowly approached the window. It was an o-katana of Eastern Island make. I could tell it was an o-katana from looking at the length of the blade; o-katanas were the longest katana of its kind. Whoever wielded this must have been either very well trained, or really big. It was… strangely beautiful. But--oh… Oh no, this poor blade, it’s rusted all over. I look up and check the other items to see what kind of store this use. Vases, old clocks… Was this an antique store?

“Did you see something you like?” I looked back to see Greckles standing behind me.

I simply nodded and returned my attention to the o-katana and even pointed to it. “This sword right here. I think I could probably restore it if I buy the right tools.”

“Didn’t you say you can’t do blacksmithing?” Greckles asked.

“Yes.” I nodded my head, “But I was trained to take care and maintain my equipment.” I explained to him, reminding him that he was teaching a shinobi that has already been through training once before. “Although with this all this rust… I admit that I’m rather afraid that the blade might need to see an actual blacksmith.”

“Hmm… The price is surprisingly cheap. Just 1 gold piece.” Greckles said as he was examining the rusted katana as well. “I could buy it for you if you want. Your gold is better spent for yourself.”

“No, it’s fine. I can buy it myself.” I said to my sensei. “Besides, I’m buying this for myself anyway. I doubt I’ll ever use it as a weapon, but it would certainly liven up my room a bit.”

Greckles simply nodded his head and we both headed inside. After a few minutes, possibly less than two minutes from how quickly I made my purchase, I was back outside with the o-katana slung around my back, sheathed in a scabbard. Hopefully it stays in one piece when we make it back home.

“Okay, we got everything needed here.” Remy announced, checking through the list of what we could get from the market. “We should be able to get the rest of what we need is going to be in the Druid District.”

“Uh, Sensei?” Greckles looked at me, “Just what is a Druid? I don’t think there was such a thing at home. If there was, it must have been under a different name.”

“Sit right down, Toko, and let Uncle Borky explain it to ya!” Borky spoke up before Greckles could, making that large grin again. We are not blood related, Borky! “A Druid is a magical animal loving tree hugger.” I could see Greckles struggling to keep his laughter down. I guess that meant Borky’s explanation wasn’t inaccurate? “They have all this nature hocus pocus that allows them to command adorable animals like lions, tigers, and bears! If they’re REALLY good, they could make trees and bushes come to life and move around, and even talk to them.”

“Oh my, they sound really powerful!” I exclaimed with surprise from Borky’s explanation. “But those animals you brought up aren’t adorable at all. Those are proud beasts. Are we going to be okay going to someplace like the… Druid District, was it?”

“Oh, plenty safe, the Druids over there only have docile animals.” Borky answered, “They’ve got like rabbits, these really tall yellow dogs with brown spots and incredibly tall necks, kittens, and puppies...” He went on to list all the animals they had there. Did he just say they had rabbits!? Kittens and puppies too!? “They also sell magical herbs that could cure wounds and nasty colds.”

“Say no more, you had me when you said they had rabbits, kittens, and puppies!” I tell him with tremendous excitement. I paused and realized that all three of them were looking at me funny--Oh Kami strike me down right now… I just broke my stoic facade, didn’t I!? I cleared my throat and tried to not make eye contact with any of them. “L-L-Let’s just go already.” I told them, trying (and valiantly failing) to keep my composure.

“... Greckles, I do believe we just learned what her favorite animal is.” Remy said with a smirk on his beak.

“ _URASAI!!_ ” I yelled at Remy to shut up in Avian. All of the lousy time for my mask to fail me now...


	6. Run in with a Ronin

**(Toko’s Point of View)**

“Oooohhhhh…!” It was all I could say as I was looking at everything around me in complete awe. If there was someplace where I could see my reflection, there would be no doubt that my eyes would be twinkling right now.

We went into the Druid District to get some herbs on Mr. Borpington’s shopping list, and some kind of Druids pointed us to where we can get them. But… Just… Oh wow, I cannot begin to point out how amazing this building was. Huge? Open? It's a massive in-door garden. This place was loaded with fruit trees, a few palm trees around a nearby fountain, and flowers. Lots of flowers. Every color under the rainbow. Sadly, I couldn’t see any that would be from home.

Don’t even get me started with the animals that were allowed to roam in here. There was an orc laughing and playing with a lion cub. A pair of humans looking after a bear that was eating lunch and looking like it was ready to go back to bed… Tons of birds flying overhead, too. For some reason, the pigeons had me worried like they were going to leave me a rude surprise.

“Toko, don’t stray too far!” I heard Greckles calling to me. I looked over to where he was. Talking to one of the druids who ran this facility, getting the herbs that they were looking for. And Captain Remy was giving the Druids a good scrutinizing to make sure that they were illegal like he was so greatly concerned.

“I’ll be careful, Sensei!” I called out to him and continued to look around, making sure I was someplace within his sight.

I was about to pass by a Dragonborn Druid sitting next to a box when the corner of my eye caught what was inside the box. I looked down at it, lifting up my mask to get a better look and… oh… Oh my goodness! It was a box full of little bunny rabbits! Without even thinking I approached the box and took a closer look. White fur, black fur, grey fur, brown fur, some with lopped ears and others standing straight… This guy had an entire fluffle!

“Like what ya see?” The Dragonborn asked me with a smile, relaxed in his seat. “You’re free to pet one if ya want to. I only charge if ya want to buy one.”

“Thank you.” I bow to the Druid before returning my attention to the fluffle inside. I tried to reach inside-- “Ah…!” I winced as I was reminded that my left shoulder was hurting with a rather acute sting. At least it wasn’t overwhelming pain like earlier today. Is that potion Remy gave me working faster than expected? Whatever, I have something much more important in front of me.

With my _good_ arm I reach down and carefully pick up a rabbit, and gently lay it on my slung arm as if I was holding a little baby. Awww, this one is absolutely adorable. Brown fur with lop ears, and half-rolled up like a ball. She’s like a little potato. “Boop~!” I spoke as I lightly tapped the little bunny on her nose.

“Thinking of buying yourself a pet, student?”

“Eep!” I snapped out of my cuteness-fueled trance and quickly set the lop rabbit back inside the box, quickly turning around to see Greckles leaning toward me with a smug expression that just says he saw everything that I was doing. “N-N-No! Of course not!” I tried to defend myself. But with how sudden it was, there wasn’t enough time for me to put a stoic facade back on. Or put my mask back on.

Curse the kami, I’ve been thoroughly exposed.

Greckles chuckled and simply patted my shoulder. “I got this one.” He passed me and began talking to the Druid. Me? I just buried my face into my hands and groaned. This is so embarrassing, I’m being spoiled!

A few minutes of stewing in my own shame later, I felt Greckles tap my shoulder, getting me to raise my head and look at him. He was grinning and holding the brown lop eared bunny to me. “Congratulations, Toko. You now have your very own potato.”

I just say nothing and accept the bunny, taking her into my arms, and keep her under my cloak to protect her from the cold once we’re back outside. So what am I going to name her? Potato-Chan? No, that’s something I would expect from my sensei, if only to make me laugh at his cruddy jokes. Udon? … Ew, no, why would I name her after Eastern Isle noodles? Maybe Ms. Usagi? It’s not the most creative, given that it simply means ‘rabbit’, but the word itself sounds cute. Yeah, I’ll go with that. “From now on, you’re Ms. Usagi~!” I say to the little bundle of fluff resting on my arms, followed with another boop on the nose.

We soon returned to Borky and Remy. They were having a conversation I didn’t particularly care enough to pay attention to. I was too busy loving my new pet bunny. According to Remy, they got everything they needed, and Borky was showing off… a… book on how to raise cows? “Um… Borky?”

“Yeah?” He looked to me with a grin.

“Why do you have a book?” I asked him. “You can’t read.”

“YOU FORGOT HOW TO READ!?” Remy looked to Borky with astonishment.

“Funny thing about that.” Borky looked to Remy with a smile and patted him on the back as if everything was alright. “I didn’t forget how to read, I just forgot that I actually can read.” … Words… words cannot describe… just… What would Master Task say at a time like this?

Remy sighed and pinched between his eyes. “Goddammit, Borky.” Yeah, actually, exactly that. That’s exactly what Master Task would say. “Let’s just go back. The lunch rush is probably over by now.”

We began making our way back to the Sweet Dragon. As we were making our way, I noticed that a lot of people were getting very busy, putting up… Actually, what am I looking at? Colorful streamers, stalls and stands, tiny triangular flags in a sequence of colors… This kind of looks like…

“Oh hey, looks like they’re getting ready for the winter festival.” Borky cut my train of thought and said pretty much what I was about to conclude anyway.

“Hey, Toko.” Greckles spoke at me, “Have you been to any of Alivast’s festivals yet?”

I shook my head in response, “No, Seisei. This would be my first time--”

A loud crashing noise filled through the air. “Ah, FUCK!! My foot!” A Dragonborn shouted, grabbing his foot and hopping on the other.

“I told ya t’be careful widdat, lad!” The Dwarf up top shouted to his friend below.

The sound of the crash scared Ms. Usagi and made her jump out of my arms and into the snow, fleeing as fast as she could. “M-Ms. Usagi, no! Come back!” I called out to her and quickly gave chase, going into as much of a spring as I could in pursuit of the fleeing potato.

“Toko, wait--!”

I was running too fast to pay attention to who was calling out to me. I turned the corner, keeping an eye on Ms. Usagi, dodging and weaving between the people. I grazed a large person with a huge shell on his back and a large green cape over his shoulder, making him spin as I zoomed by him. “Sorry! In a hurry!” I called out to them.

“Weeeeeeeee~!” The large shelled humanoid shouted as he was spinning.

Geez, Ms. Usagi is fast! I knew rabbits were quick, but she made trying to catch her really tough. Even more difficult when I only had one good arm availala-- “Ah!” In an instantly, I completely lost sight of Ms. Usagi and crashed face first into the snowy ground. If it wasn’t for the snow… I’m pretty sure I would have gotten a face full of cobblestone sidewalk instead. “Owww...” I slowly pushed myself back up until I was back on my fast, shaking and brushing off the snow. Just what did I trip over?

… A question I regretted asking. I got my answer as I locked eyes with a… creature extremely larger than me were it not for the fact that he was sitting down minding his own business… _was_ minding his own business before I trip over him. Broad in both his chest and shoulders, covered in armor and robes. Whatever wasn’t covered by his armor and robes was covered by long bandages with varying shades of brown; no doubt having been used for a very long time and in need of being changed. His face was hidden behind a large Roningasa hat, a wide brimmed straw hat with a flat top. The only thing I could make out was a single, sinister glowing yellow eye from behind the hat. He had a sheathed o-katana resting on his shoulder.

I tensed up and took a step away from this imposing… _thing._ As we kept looking at each other, he raised his left arm slowly, opened his hand and…

“Hello there.” He said very casually with a handwave.

I screamed at the top of my lungs and made a mad dash out of there! Oh man, forget this, I’m going back home! “No, wait--! Aaaagh…! Why does everybody get scared when I say hello!?” The creature I left in the dust complained, his voice getting further and further away as I kept sprinting.

I don’t know how long as I was running, but I don’t care. After dashing through several blocks, I ducked into an alleyway. I took several deep breaths to try and calm myself down. Once I was finally able to think straight, I brought my hands out and recited the Kuji-In. “Rin… Pyou… Tou… Sha… Kai… Jin...” I spoke as I carefully made each handsign. A technique I’ve seen Greckles use for his arcane magic during practice plenty of times, and learned them myself back in the village. But Kuji-In’s true purpose was to calm the mind and ease mental stress. It’s a very flexible and practical shinobi practice. “Retsu… Zai… Zen...” I took a long deep breath through my mouth, and slowly exhaled through my nose.

… Wait a minute. I just did this with both my hands. I carefully examined my sling and noticed it had loosened up greatly. It must have happened when I was chasing Ms. Usagi and fled from that scary swordsman. I move my shoulder a bit and… Huh. It barely hurts at all now. It’s numb, more than anything. Looks like my injury has healed up. Well, mostly healed up. Even I know healing potions don’t work that quickly. I just have to avoid hurting it again. If I can use my arm again, it’s good enough for me. I undid the sling and folded it up. I’m sure Captain Remy will be glad to have this back. It was originally his cape afterall.

I left the alley--

“Well, well, wot we got here!?” A hand grabbed my shoulder from behind and pinned me against the well. I looked up to see a very thuggish human that looked like he hasn’t bathed in months. “Dat’s a mighty mighty fancy cloth and sword ya got there.” He said as he pressed something sharp against my stomach. I took a sharp inhale and tense up. Damn. He’s got a knife. “How about you hand them over and we can be on our way, eh? The mask, too. Bet yer mummy and daddy are wondering where you are.”

I didn’t say anything. I just looked at him, trying to insight him as best as I could. No. I can’t trust this thug. The moment I give him what he wants, he’ll kill me so I don’t report him to the Alivast Guard. “Hey! Didn’t ya hear what I just said? Give me your stuff or I’ll--”

Suddenly, a fist wrapped in bandages came into my field of view and punched the thug right in his jaw, making him stumble to the side and forced to let go of me. “Agh! Motherfuck--! Who got the balls ta punch me!?”

“Me.” Said the… Oh no. It was the scary bandaged swordsman! He walked forward, looking toward me as he was passing. “Did he hurt you at all?” I silently shook my head. “Good.” He looked to the thug, bringing his fists together and cracking his knuckles. “Mugging a child… I don't need Kagatsuchi for such a weakling.”

“Ya makin’ fun of me, ya tall shit!?” The thug put away his knife and drew a shortsword in its place. “Yer gonna pay for that now!” The thug charged forward and swung at the swordsman.

But his posture and swing are sloppy. Clumsy, even. He was fighting as if he was drunk. The Swordsman merely took a step back and let the sword harmlessly slash in front of him and hit the stone ground with a clang. “Pathetic.” He said before he stepped back in, raising his fist, the same fist he punched with earlier, and punched the thug in the face again. This time he got him right in the nose. Ouch, I think I see blood coming out of his nostrils. The swordsman reached out with his punching arm again and grabbed him by the neck. Due to the difference in their heights, the swordsman lifted the thug off the ground as if he barely weighed anything, until they were at eye level.

He reached out with his other hand and yanked the helmet right of his opponent’s take, holding it and examining it for a moment. “Hmm… Nice helmet.” he commented before dropping it on the ground and returning his attentioning to the now terrified thug. He brought his free hand to the thug’s face and flexed his fingers in front of him. No way… Was he seriously about to…? “No…! Please...! Don’t!” The thug pleaded to the swordsman. It was very obvious that he was not listening, nor cared to humor what he had to say.

“Let’s see...” He proceeded to slap the thug silly, smacking his hand back and forth across his face. For some reason, the slap sounded like something metal. “What can I do with a helmet? An easy meal would be nice for once. Maybe a new straw hat?” Was he… Was he seriously thinking of something else!? “Oh. Right. The weakling.” He stopped after giving the thug one last slap. He looked him dead in his tearing eyes. Good Kami, the thug’s face looks so swollen and severely bruised. “This is going to go two ways my friend.” He spoke to him as he balled up his hand into a fist. “I hit you,” he swung his fist in an offhand backhand, making the thug hit the ground so hard that I could tell if that was the sound of his skull crunching, or the ground. It was enough to make me wince, “and you hit the cobblestones.”

The thug sobbed and groaned from the pain before somehow forcing himself back onto his feet and ran for dear life. He dropped his sword as he fled.

“I ask you again.” I yelped, tensing up as I looked back up to him. “Are you unharmed?”

“... Y… Yeah. I’m fine.” I nodded my head. “B-But how did you find me? I ran as fast as I could.”

“You ran all the way back here. I was just on the other side.” He answered, pointing to exactly where he was. “This alley is a singular path, and it’s not very long at all. I could hear him threatening you.”

……… I am never speaking of this to any of The Unexpectables, and especially not to Greckles. He’ll never let me live this down.

“Where are your parents, little one?” The swordsman continued to speak. “If you’re lost, I can help you find them.”

“Um.. Th-Thanks?” I replied. I was scared of this man before, before seeing what he did to that criminal? I was terrified. The only reason I’m not screaming in terror again is because he’s made it clear that he doesn’t mean me any harm. “A-Actually, I was part of a party, but I became separated from them, as you can see.” Oh come on, could I not sound any more socially awkward? “An orc and two kenku, a grackle in blue and a falcon dress in purple. You might know them as The Unexpectables?” They were famous around these parts, so I was guessing that he might know them anyway.

“Alright.” He simply nodded. “Stay close. I’ll help you find them.”

“Th-Thank you. Th-They were in the Druid District before I was separated from them.” I simply nodded and started to follow him. I was keeping a thorough observation of my surroundings so I didn’t get ambushed again, and the swordsman was asking people as we were passing them if they saw Greckles and his friends. Spooking them by accident now and again, but we were able to get a general sense of direction of where they had gone.

It took us a while to find them, but eventually…

“Toko!” Greckles called my name just on the other side of the block. He was sprinting toward me.

“Sensei!” I called make to him, running toward him as well. Once we met in the middle, he put his arms around me and held me close.

“Thank goodness you’re safe.” Greckles said with a voice of absolute relief and joy. Once we were done hugging, put his hand on my shoulders and we made eye contact. “Don’t ever do that again, young lady. You almost gave me a heart attack with how quickly you broke away from the group.”

“I know. And I’m sorry...” I replied again. Thinking about it though, I never got back Ms. Usagi. It was saddening. Greckles spent his money to get me and pet and I lost it in mere minutes. “I lost Ms. Usagi. I’m so sorry, Sensei. You bought a pet for me, and I...”

“It’s alright. It’s nothing that I can’t make back.” Greckles assured me with a pat on the head. By now, the swords, and well as Borky and Remy, caught up with us. Greckles looked up to the swordsman. He wasn’t intimidated by him, surprisingly. “Who are you? Were you protecting my student?”

“I was.” The swordsman nodded. “You look as though you’re from the Eastern Isles. My name is Goemon Takeo. I’m just a meager Ronin who saw Toko in trouble and helped her.” For some reason, the swordsman, now having introduced himself, was looking at Takeo intently. Not enough to be seen as hostile or dangerous. But even with his face hidden by the bandages and hat, I could tell that he was acting like Greckles seemed familiar, but couldn’t put his finger on where he had seen him before.

“You did us a great service today, Takeo.” Captain Remy stepped up, extended a hand to Takeo, who simply looked at it as if the falcon was going to pull a fast one on him. “Have you never seen a handshake before? It’s how we greet each other around these parts. Remus Corbeau, Captain of the Gryphon Rider Corp of Alivast.”

“Hello! I’m Borky the Orky!” Borky introduced himself while flexing his muscle.

“Ah, one of those ‘fellow green boiz’ I heard about.” Takeo answered, accepting Remy’s handshake in the meantime.

“Is there any way we can repay you for protecting Toko?” The Captain asked.

“A simple request.” Takeo nodded his head. “A place to eat and sleep. It would be nice to sleep on a bed for once. Do you know where I can find such a place? Cheap but not a rundown piece of shit, especially.”

“You can try the Sweet Dragon!” Borky proposed, holding onto his big, doofy smile. “We gots music, top-quality food, and all the bar fights ya can have, and lots of other crazy things you can get up to! It’s in the Lower Crafting District just over yonder in… That direction!” Borky raised his hand as high as possible and pointed. Oh come on, Borky, we’re not even stuck in the middle of a large crowd. Are you doing this on purpose? “And tells ya what, it’ll be on the house!”

“Borky, you would need to take that up with Task and Panic.” Greckles quickly informed his friend. “They’ll have a fit if you go giving free meals left and right.”

“That’s fine with me.” Takeo answered very curtly, “I can work for food and bed if it comes to that. I don’t care for money other than necessities.” Once he was silent again, he kept looking at Greckles with suspicion. Should I…? No. Not right now. It might be better to bring this up when I can tell him in private.

The conversation went on a little bit longer, mostly about how to repay him for saving my butt. We were finally able to make our way back to the Sweet Dragon, with all the groceries still intact… And most of the extra stuff we bought for ourselves along the way. I hope Ms. Usagi is okay…

“Welcome back, fellas.” Panic said with a handwave and a smile.

“I’ll go give these to Mr. Borpington.” Borky said as he took the bags and ran into the kitchen. “Mr. Borpington, we got the food that ya wanted! The extra good stuff, too!”

“Good to be back, Panic.” Remy said with a smile. Behind him Takeo simply kept quiet and went to take a seat along the bar counter. “Don’t mind him, he’s an acquaintance we picked up. I’ll explain things once we’ve got everything settled.”

“I see, I see. He’s certainly an imposing man.” Panic said as he was carefully sizing up Takeo, “He would certainly make a terrifying bodyguard, but we’ll have to bring it up with a Task. Right! So!” He clapped his hands together and looked to us with a smile. “Good news. Got a letter from Iggy saying he’s almost done fixing Pancake. We’ll finally have our guard dog back.” Wait, we had a guard dog!? That poor fluffer… I hope he’s doing okay and in the care of a good doctor.

“Good.” Task spoke up, approaching us with his arms crossed. “That means we can finally stop putting out dayshift employment ads and wasting our gold over chumps. No more complaints from the neighbors over Borky’s morning routine, too.”

“I call it the Orky Borky Roar.” I threw in a quick comment.

“It’s mandatory and must be done with almost zero exceptions, you know that!” Borky shouted from the background. What the heck, he can hear us all the way in there?

“We wouldn’t be in this mess if you didn’t break Pancake!” Task shouted back.

“It was a tiny magnet! Besides, I didn’t know magnets fucked up Constructs!” Borky shouted back to Task’s shouting. Wait a minute, Pancake is a Construct?

“Ignore the riff-raff and help put up the groceries!” I could hear Mr. Borpington talking, “The dinner rush will be coming soon and we haven’t a moment to waste!”

“By the way, while you guys were gone, guess who decided to drop by.” Task smiled as he pointed to a large fellow just off to the side.

“Hullo!” He waved to us. He looked familiar. Large with a turtle shell on his back, a dark green cap over his left arm, and an axe curiously shaped like a shovel resting besides the seat he was on, and there was an adorable pink bat sitting on his shoulder. “My name’s Digsby, it’s short for Digsbert. Me mates call me Digs. I can dig ya a hole for ten coppa’.” He introduced himself. Just what was I looking at? I’ve never seen a creature like him before. A boisterous Kappa, maybe?

“Digsby!” Greckles and Remy expressed their joy, approaching him and shaking his hand. Greckles was the first to speak up. Ah, so he’s friends with The Unexpectables. “It has been far too long, Digsby, how’ve you been?”

“Pretty good.” Digsby answered, “Been helping Hoketh maintain order, smiting ne'er-do-wells looking to disturb the natural order of life and death. Came here because we got word that an old temple of order became the sight of a big battle, and you were apparently caught up in it, Greks.”

“Wait, battle at the Hoketh…?” Greckles trailed off, thinning for a moment before remembering the fight with that brutish Orc we decided to call Meatheat. “That battle was almost a month ago. Does your order not get their messages quickly?”

“It could be a bit quicker.” Digsby answered. “But I’m glad to see you’re doing alright. Where’s Borky? Coulda sworn I saw him a minute ago.” He said as he was looking around.

“In the kitchen.” We all answered in unison, then looked at each other confused, then looked back to Digsby. Suddenly, he was looking at me now.

“Oh hey, I’ve seen you before.” Digsby said to me. I tensed up. Oh crap, did my identity get leaked out!? “You’re the girl that sent me spinning earlier today.” … Ohhhh, I remember now, it was when I was trying to catch Ms. Usagi.

“I-I’m sorry...” I apologized to Digsby and bowed to him respectfully. “I was trying to catch my pet rabbit. She got scared from the construction noise and fled, and I chased after her. I’m Toko Amagi. I’m Greckles’ student.”

“It’s alright, Toko. No harm was done.” Digsby accepted my apology with a doofy, but radiant grin on his Kappa face.

“Come on, we’ll tell you all about our time with him over dinner.” Remy said, putting me on the back. Right, I still need to return his cape to him. I’ll do it after dinner.

We took our seats at the counter, Greckles and I taking a seat at a nearby table due to our group becoming so big now. I waited quietly while the guys were all talking to each other about past experiences and what they’ve been up to right now, frequently making crude jokes with each other.

“Dinner’s ready~!” Borky cheerfully declared as he and Mr. Borpington came out carrying trays with bowls off… Oh, yummy, it’s pot roast! One of my favorites since I started working here. Piping out with finely diced beef, chopped potatoes, and mixed vegetables; my bowl thankfully having carrots, thank you Kami, all mixed in a nice, thick, steamy broth. All of us each had two pieces of bread. Although for some reason, mine has small bits and pieces of orange. Well, it’s not the first time I’ve eaten something strange from Mr. Borpington’s kitchen. They tasted delicious every time I had them.

“Thank you for the meal~!” I put my hands together and bowed. I’m far away from home, but I’ll be damned to forget my table manners. For the sake of satiating my curiosity, I went for the bread first and took a bit. Hmm… Not bad so far. Definitely tastes like bread. Although there was a familiar flavor to it. I swallowed went for another--

… Oh no. “Hurgh…!?” I dropped the bread on the floor and clutched my stomach, which suddenly felt like a molten hot stake was stabbed right through my stomach. That bread…! I remember the flavor now…! It’s… It’s… “Th… That bread had… carrots in it…!!”

My body gave way and I collapsed on the ground. I could barely hear The Unexpectables as they called out to me. Sensei got on his knees and reached out to me, shaking my shoulder. “It hurts… It hurts so much… I’m dying…!” I said curling up in agony...

“That’s what you get for ignoring our agreement and kept lying through secrecy, ya schmuck!” Task yelled. Oh Kami… So this was how… he was going to punish me… for my deception… and trained in secret…

Greckles… Forgive me… I’ve been assassinated…

I’m definitely… going to get you for this… You stupid Ōsanshōuo…!


	7. Megalo-Done with This

“Damn you…!!” Toko growled at Takeo, who was just drinking a mug of iced tea, sitting near the entrance with a smug grin on his face, and his roningasa hat resting on the back chair. “Acting all high and mighty, just because you’re several heads taller than me…!!” She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists as her face briefly lit red with anger.

“It’s the truth, isn’t it?” Takeo said as he took another swig of his drink. Without the hat on, everybody could get a better look at the guy. His face was covered in bandages still, but we could finally get an idea of who, or what, he is. Tusk-like underbite, very similar to Borky, and his relaxed tone gave way to him being much younger than how he introduced himself, which gave us the impression of him being a gruff old man.

A Half-Orc, maybe? He must only be a year or two older than Toko, who admitted to being 15.

“It’s not my fault that you’re still a baby ninja.” I winced at Takeo’s smart remark, and I could hear Task laughing in the background.

“That is it!!” Toko stood defiantly and pointed a finger right at the man making fun of her. “Takeo! Today is the day you finally face justice!” Without a moment to lose, she charged at him at full speed. She was like a little pink bolt of lightning.

Except that Takeo, completely unphased by the incoming threat, stopped Toko dead in her tracks by simply lifting up his hand, extended his index finger, and kept it pressed against Toko’s forehead. “ _Ora ora ora ora ora ora!!_ ” She repeatedly shouted as she was swinging her fists, woefully out of reach of where she’s trying to hit him.

Panic laughed and patted me on the back, getting a grunt out of me. “Toko’s certainly lightened up, hasn’t she?”

“Yeah.” I nodded, rubbing the part of my back that Panic patted a little too hard. I looked back to see that Toko was on the ground, having tired herself out with Takeo helping her take a seat next to her and order a drink for her. She was visibly embarrassed that she was beaten by a guy who didn’t even try to fight back.

Well, it certainly got a grin and chuckle out of me. “Nice to see she’s opening herself up to people outside of us and her coworkers.” I looked back to Panic. Just behind him was Digsby, having a happy ol’ time by himself feasting on a plate of… Cucumbers? What the heck? “Uh… Digsby?”

“Yeah?” The Tortle in question looked to me with his trademark dopey smile, a half-eaten cucumber between his fingers.

“Where did the cucumbers come from?” I asked him. I certainly don’t remember those being on the grocery list.

“Toko bought some this morning when she was out buying festival decorations with Remy and served them to me for free.” Digsby answered. That only confused me even further. “She said some strange stuff to me, calling me a ‘Noble, Mighty Coppa’. The gesture was nice, but I’m not really made of money.”

I was silent for a moment, and then I bursted out laughing, resting my head on the counter and pounding my fist on it a few times. Now it makes sense! She confused Digsby for a _Kappa!_ After regaining my composure and wiping the tears out of my eyes, I explained the misunderstanding to him. “No, Digsby, not a coppa’, erm, copper. A Kappa. She mistook you for a Youkai from the Eastern Isles. A river spirit resembling a turtle with a love for cucumbers.”

“But I’m a Tortle.” Digsby pointed out before eating the cucumber, “Although these are pretty good.”

“Oh, we know, but Toko doesn’t. She probably never met a Tortle in her life until now.” I replied.

“Sounds like you’ll need to educate her, Greckles.” Panic folded his arms and nodded, listening to us this whole time. Kind of had to when he was stuck between me and Digsby this whole time.

No surprises there. She’s only been in Alivast for about a month now. Who knows how little of the world outside her homeland she understands. Especially in a place like Alivast, which is so chaotic that the first day of winter begins with a thunderous dumping of snow, two feet or more, all at once, every year without fail. It certainly had me baffled during my first Alivast winter. “I wonder if I should enroll her at Eve’s Meadow Academy?” It would certainly be a good place for her to learn things aside from ninjutsu. It’s not like her clan can assassinate her either; they had to hire a mercenary to get her, and we haven’t seen any more attackers since. So maybe we’re in the clear now.

“By the way, have you seen Borky?” Panic asked me.

“Last I saw him, he was outside decorating the Sweet Dragon with Willow and Kiwi.” I answered him. Indeed, I saw them out front hanging an assortment of colorful crystals that, according to Willow, light up during the night. “Actually, that reminds me. Willow told me she wanted to speak with Toko once she was done.”

“I have some bad news, gentlemen.” Panic, Digsby, and myself to see Remy approaching us with a piece of parchment in his hand. “I’ve received word from the Alivast Council that a monster has been lurking near the harbor attacking approaching ships. They’ve been ignoring it until now because it used to be much further out at sea where it had to compete with the likes of pirates and other naval ships. They’ve been trying to deal with it, and it’s proving to be too much for the Alivast Guard to deal with it themselves.”

“So that’s where we come in?” I asked Remy.

“Precisely.” Remy nodded his head, looking back to the paper, “They’ve requested The Unexpectables for their help in dealing with the problem. According to intel, our target is some kind of very large shark.”

“A shark? Really? That’s it?” Panic asked with a raised eyebrow. “Seems a bit bitch to deal with one shark.”

“Well this one as managed to wreck 3 trade ships, and has killed a total of 46 sailors, adventurers, and passengers, either from drowning or eaten. Anybody who survived was either injured, traumatized, or both, and the traumatized expressing their desire to never travel as long as they live. This information comes from sources that have all had to deal with this vicious creature. And with the winter festival so close, killing it is top priority. They don’t care what we do with the creature as long as we can get rid of it.”

“Great scott!” Digsby expressed his shock, eyes wide and still munching on the last cucumber. “We certainly can’t have that man-eater running about.” He finished the Cucumber and stood up, looking very serious. “I was here to investigate the Hoketh Temple, but it wouldn’t be right to leave this problem alone either.” He drew his shovel, or axe as it were, and raised it and thumped the butt of it against the floor. “You have my shovel, Remy.”

“A shark, huh? This is going to be a boring hunt.” Task approached us, arms folded and shrugging. “I overheard the conversation. You’ll need somebody to shoot the creature when it's underwater, right?”

“Excellent. We’ll make preparations at once.” Remy said to everybody. “I’ll go on ahead and inform the Guard waiting at the harbor and come up with a strategy against the creature. If you will excuse me.” With his mind set to fulfilling his duty, Remy went ahead and left the tavern, donning his cape (that Toko remembered to return now that her arm is healed) and going out the front door.

“Alright, better pack your bags, boys.” Task, who was more or less the leader of the group, said, “Greckles, go get Bork--”

“HOLY SHIT, YOU GUYS ARE GONNA GO HUNTING A SHARK!?” Borky shouted as he came rushing in. It looked like Remy told him what was happening on the way out. He’s got his gear on, Raunfalt drawn, and everything. Wait, how did he manage to do that in such a short amount of time? I didn’t see him with any of that on before.

“... Never mind.” Task said flatly.

I stand up from my seat and go to where Toko and Takeo are. “Toko, go back to your room and get things. You’re about to have your first mission.”

“What’s going on?” Takeo asked.

“A shark is causing problems near the harbor, and it’s one Hell of a fighter.” I explained to him. “It’s already taken out three ships, and killed more than its fair share of people.”

“Should I really be going out on such a mission?” Toko asked, but she was already standing upright and taking this very seriously. “If the shark is that dangerous, somebody like me should sit this one out and like the experts handle it.”

“You’ll be fine.” I assured her with a pat on the head. “You’ll be surrounded by me and my friends, who _are_ experts, and in the back with me where the shark can’t get you.”

“If I might be so bold to ask...” Takeo stood up, looming over me and cracking his neck with a huge grin on his bandage-obscured face. “I would like to take a shot at this shark myself. I need my skills sharp, and what better than a predator of notoriety?”

“You’ll have to ask Task, but I’m sure he would appreciate the help.” I tell the ronin. He just gave me a huge grin and walked over to talk to Task. That… quite honestly, that was one hell of a scary grin on his face. Went from chill to demonic in three seconds flat. “Brrrrr…!” My body shivered to get the chill out of my system and unruffle my feathers. It’s strange though. I feel like I’ve seen that crazed grin from somewhere before. But where?

I shake the thought off for now. Right now, I need to prepare. I went upstairs and past the lion head door, and into my room. Let’s see, what do I have in my room? My Scary Acid Dagger of Stab (SADOS for short)... Nah, I’d rather not lose it out at sea. I already lost Kajikiri, my Flametongue Dagger, the last time I did anything related to the ocean. Taken by a religious group that my friends and I are less than fond of; it’s a miracle I was able to keep this one.

My sunblade, which I took from that same religious group that took my Kajikiri, Nick and Todd, which I found during my adventures… Caltrops won’t be of any help here, our target lives in the ocean. But these 12 metsubushi bombs will certainly help if we can drag the creature to land. Had to confiscate these after Task took them from Toko and used them to pull vanishing acts on Borky. At least his antics proved how effective they were. Six for me and six for Toko should do it.

Plenty of darts to go around, too. Normal, poisonous, and even acid darts in case of armored foes. I should give Toko some normal darts, since they’re the kind I keep a very large number handy, and my student has admitted that she’s just a beginner, so specialty darts would be unwise for the time being. More than enough potion to go around as well, and I’m sure Toko has kept her potions stocked up as well.

Alright, I think that’s everything I have. I packed up everything I needed and headed back downstairs where everybody was waiting. “Toko, come here.” I called out to her. She looked at me and approached with a moment’s hesitation. “Here, something to help on the mission.” I handed her six metsubushi bombs and 20 darts to throw with. “If that shark gets close to you, don’t hesitate to use these at once.”

“Yes, sensei. Thank you.” She expressed her gratitude with a serious, almost militaristic tone. Jeez, the sudden switch from her express, dorky personality to this cold, stoic agent is rather jarring. Just what did she go through to be so uptight?

Although it wasn’t intentional, my eyes examined her to make sure she was prepared. Still wearing pink, which I have grown _uncomfortably_ used to seeing her wear, her rabbit mask to preserve her identity, and on her hips were the fuuma shuriken that she used when we fought the Orc mercenary a while back. “I see you’re still using the Fuuma Shuriken. Are you sure that’s a good idea, using those things? You still have your kodachi, and I have a spare shortsword if you need one.”

“No, Shonogon and Shikibu will work just fine.” Toko shook her head, “As long as I don’t go throwing them like some kind of boomerang, they’ll serve me well.”

Rather stubborn of her, considering I’ve been trying to help her relearn how to wield a normal sword, and she’s been obedient up until now, barring a few instances where she went behind everybody’s backs to try and be of some benefit; be it helping us or self-improvement.

But, knowing she’s aware of what she’s using, and how to _not_ use a weapon, at least got a smile on my face. I simply gave her a pat of the head. “You don’t need to prove you’re tough. If it becomes too much to handle, run without sparing a second thought. A ninja’s job is to survive. It’s in the very name. You’re not a coward for choosing survival.”

“... Yes, sensei.” Toko pursed her lips and looked to the side. Why did she give that kind of reaction? Oh no, did I just guilt trip her? I’ll have to apologize to her once this mission is over.

For now, I simply patted her head and looked to the guys. “I’m all set.”

“We’re all good here, too.” Task nodded his head. “Now let’s head out, we’re keeping Remy waiting, and that shark isn’t going to hunt itself.”

“After you.” Takeo gestured a hand to the door, although I had the strangest feeling that he was being very rude about it. It must be the aura he gives off from his gruff appearance. The rest of us went out first, and he was the last one to come out and closed the door behind him. Normally, we would walk in a formation. But this was Alivast, home of The Unexpectables. We knew these streets like the back of our hands, so there wasn’t a need for one this time and we just stuck together.

Borky, Task, and Panic were having an idle conversation in the front. Toko and myself remained silent. I looked to my right, and Toko was keeping her head down, trying to not draw attention to herself. On my left was Takeo, who was constantly getting odd looks and startled reactions. It didn’t help that his roningasa hat was hiding his face so well that you could only see the glowing eyes underneath. If I hadn’t known him for more than a day or two now, I would have mistaken him for a demonic swordsman.

Actually, now that we had this time to ourselves, I should strike up a conversation with him. “Takeo-san.”

“Hm?” He turned his head slightly toward me.

“I can’t help but notice that you’re covered in a staggering amount of bandaged.” I tell him. His eyes sharpened toward me, and his thumb was ready to push out his sword. Yeesh, I touched on a sensitive topic. I need to tread carefully. “Are you suffering from leprosy?”

“What’s it to you?” He asked with a cold, harsh tone. “Are you one of those filth who get their kicks out of mocking the less fortunate?”

“Perish the thought, Takeo-san.” I immediately tell him, “This is not the Eastern Isles. I’ve lived here in Alivast far too long to uphold, much less care for, such cruel standards. If there is anything from our homeland that I wish to keep to heart, it would be the things that make it wonderful. The things that bring us together and enjoy. Oh!” I snapped my talons as I realized something important! “I should take you to the Tiger Restaurant some time. I tell ya, it’s some of the best damn food you’ll find around here. It’s so good that Toko tried to trick me with it during her interview.”

“D-D-Don’t tell him that!” Toko broke her silence and shouted at me. I could sense the blush behind her mask. Her face is probably deep red. “Takeo makes fun of me enough as is!”

Takeo let out a hearty laugh. “I’ll have to remember that offer, once we’re done slaughtering this shark that’s giving the Guards so much trouble.” Well, that’s a relief. His tone shifted to something much more enjoyable. “But no, I do not have leprosy. It’s merely a facade I took on back when I lived in the Eastern Isles. I was raised by monks, you see. They didn’t exactly take kindly to me. They would have done far worse to me than mere scorn had it not been for my father, the leader of the temple.” He lifted one of his bandaged up hands, looking down at it. “He said that my identity must be kept secret at all costs, for my kind isn’t just discriminated against, but absolutely loathed and believed that we must be killed. Even here, in a far away land, I keep these on with due caution.”

Digsby, who I somehow forgot was part of the group, put a hand on Takeo’s shoulder and gave him a warm smile. “You are among friends, my good man. We’ve all suffered, but we’ve found the will to keep going, and no doubt you have too.” Knowing of what happened to Digsby, he was definitely the most qualified to help Takeo. Wait…

I leaned forward and I noticed that Digsby’s arm was missing. “Uh… Digsby. What happened to your arm?”

“Hmm?” Digsby looked down at his left arm and moved the cape a bit with his right arm. I knew it, his left arm really is missing! “Oh, bugger, Armsby snuck off without me noticing.”

“Who’s Armsby?” Takeo and Toko asked at the same time. I looked back at my student and noticed an animated detached arm sneaking up behind Toko and tapped her on the shoulder.

“Hm?” Toko looked to the severed arm, who immediately waved its fingers at her. Toko inhaled loudly, and sharply, as her shoulders tensed up, her hair getting slightly frizzled and… “MERCIFUL KAMI!!” There it was, she screamed at the top of her lungs and bolted around behind me, clinging close and trembling like a leaf. “S-S-Sensei, protect me!!”

“What the Hell!?” Takeo was equally taken aback and was ready to draw his sword.

Meanwhile, Borky and panic were laughing at how the two reacted, and Task was just grinning his teeth. “Armsby, you fellow goose. Come back here.” As if on command, Armsby hopped back to Digsby, who picked him up and reattached him as if he had never popped off in the first place. “You gotta stop scarin’ people like that. It’s gonna get you stabbed one of these days.” Armsby twiddled its fingers, as if it was laughing at the mischief it managed.

“... Should I really ask what that was all about?” Takeo questioned as he was carefully taking his hand off of his sword.

“This is Armsby.” Digsby introduced his… arm, to the ronin. “It’s a very long story, and it’s not a particularly happy one.”

“I can imagine.” Takeo simply said and continued to walk forward. “I’m surrounded by friggin’ weirdos, I swear.” I could hear him grumbling under his breath. If he thinks we’re weird, he hasn’t even begun to see at all the insane crap we get ourselves into.

After calming down Toko and getting her to come out of hiding behind me, we finally reached the dock. We could see Remy talking to Sebastian from just outside of the docks.

“Ah! Fellas! You made it just in time.” Remy greeted us with a handwave. “Sebastian and I have just finished formulating a plan to deal with that monster out there.” he pointed out to the sea. There was a dorsal fin breaking the water surface in the distance. That wasn’t a small dorsal fin either. For a shark, it was awfully big. Strike that, it was VERY big. Were we about to get into a fight with a sea monster?

“What’s our plan of attack, Captain?” Toko spoke up.

“Yes, right then. The plan.” Sebastian stepped forward, clearing his throat. “We have deliberated and agreed that all members of The Unexpectables will be acting as frontline combatants. The Alivast Guard, as well as myself, shall be acting as support and provide cover fire, as well as manning harpoon guns from up there.” He looked back and pointed to the top of the walls. We could barely see the harpoon guns in question, being loaded up and taking firing position. “Welch, as well as some of our healers, will be positioned back here outside the dock in the event that you get hurt and need to fall back for an emergency healing.”

“Definitely a solid plan. Hopefully you guys got a Plan B in case Plan A decides to go SNAFU on us.” Task spoke, standing upright and hands behind his back. He was showing his military experience as a former Quartermaster.

“That, regrettably is still in the works.” Sebastian sighed and shook his head in disappointment. “Welch is currently coming up with the rest of Plan B. For now, we have to do our best to make Plan A a resounding access.”

“Well, it’s a lot better than how we usually do things.” Task looked back to the rest of us. “Alright guys, you got anything to ask before we go rushing in?”

“Um, yes.” Borky said, raising his hand like a student in class.

“Right then, TO YOUR POSITIONS EVERYBODY!!” Task shouted to all of us, leaving a very upset and confused Borky as we entered the docks, getting closer to the water’s edge.

It was dangerous, but the shark was still further out to see. Far enough for us to back away in case it came charging toward land.

“So. There’s our quarry.” Task was stroking him as he was trying to think. “So how do we get this thing’s attention? Shoot an arrow at it?”

“If it’s provoking you want, I could probably use Shatter on it.” Panic proposed. Not a bad idea, but that shark looks like it’s way too far to hit, even if we were to stand on the boardwalks.

“Maybe we can shout mean things at it?” Borky asked. We all just looked at him unimpressed. “What? That’s what we usually do to our enemies, and it always works.” Okay, that was a good point.

“Believe it or not, Sebastian and the Guards already tried that.” Remy said, “The shark doesn’t really seem to care what people think of it.”

“I can respect that.” Takeo commented.

“Maybe we can use bait?” I decided to throw an idea in. Although the question is, what would we use as bait that’s so enticing that it would get the shark to come over here where we can trap it and beat it up?

“Um… Where’s Toko?” Digsby asked. We looked around and… Oh no, Toko’s missing!

I started to look around and noticed she was on one of the boardwalks! She pulled out a metsubushi bomb and took up position to throw it at the shark! Oh, no! No, no! NO, NO, NO, NO!! “Toko, don’t be a fool!!” I shouted at her, rushing toward her to try and get her to stop!

“Hyah!!” Toko shouted as she pulled her arm back, lifted her front foot off the ground a bit, and threw the metsubushi bomb with all of her might! I’m too late! I grab her and pull her away from the edge. I am going to give this brat such a scolding when this is over. Hell, she’ll be lucky if it’s just a scolding, she can expect to be grounded for the next week, confined to her room!

We watched as the bomb soared through the air, quickly making its way toward the shark… When it suddenly exploded from a flash of blue shot from the dorsal fin. “... Um… Was that a lightning bolt just now?” Toko asked. She lifted up her mask to wiped her eyes to make sure she wasn’t just seeing there.

“No. I saw it too.” I answered, and slowly pulled her further back. “Toko. Back away slowly.” Alarm bells were going off in my head like crazy. That wasn’t normal. Not normal by any stretch of the imagination.

The dorsal fin stopped circling and faced toward the dock, slowly approaching… Strike that, it was RAPIDLY coming at us, cutting through the water surface like a sword! “Toko, strike that last order, RUN FOR IT!!”

“INCOMIIIIIING!!” Toko shouted to the others as we dash like lunatics because to land, and ran further inland until our backs were against the giant wall. The dorsal fan was smashing through the boardwalk like it was made of paper, then started to turn back. It was done smashing the platform and leaving nothing but driftwood behind.

“... By the kami. I almost got us killed.” Toko with a frightened tone. I could feel her hand holding around mine. I simply responded by holding onto it too. “I made a huge mistake--”

“FIRE!!” Sebastian shouted from high above. A harpoon was fired, the cannons letting out a loud blast that made Toko and myself crouch down and cover our ears so they wouldn’t be ringing from the noise.

The harpoon flew through the air like a bolt of lightning of its own and pierced through the dorsal fin. The shark didn’t like that, as it was immediately struggling and… electricity was surging across the water surface? “We got him, gentleman! Now bring it in so our allies below can finish it off!”

“Greckles, are you alright!?” Remy and the others ran up to me and my student. He looked down at Toko, visibly angered. “Young lady, what were you thinking!? You acted completely out of line and ignored your master! You nearly got yourself killed, as well as Greckles when he tried to stop you!”

“I know...” Toko acknowledged, her head lowered in shame. “You were all struggling with figuring out how to get that shark over here, so I… Kami, I’m so stupid!” She clenched her fist and bumped it against her head several times.

“We’ll discuss your punishment for insubordination later.” Remy told her, returning his attention to the shark and drawing his sword. “If you want to redeem yourself, I suggest you do it now!”

“Here it comes, lads!” Borky shouted as he drew Raunfalt.

The rest of us drew our weapons. Task and Panic snapped their fingers and summoned Epoch and Catharsis, Task’s bow and Panic’s guitar respectively. I drew Nick and Todd, Takeo drew his katana, and Toko drew her Fuuma Shuriken and brought her mask back down.

“Absolutely stay close to me, Toko.” I ordered her.

“Yes, Sensei.” She nodded her head, getting her game face on. There was no time for her to wallow in self-pity, especially in the face of an enemy. At least she understood that much.

With a final pull of the harpoon, the shark finally came to the surface… Oh… shit. An absolute **_MASSIVE_ ** shark flopped onto land, rolling onto it’s bellow and smiling right at us with its three sets of teeth, which were glowing blue and surging with electricity. Infact, it’s whole body was glowing blue. A hardshell was covering its eyes and fins, and a closer observation revealed that the harpoon stuck in its dorsal fin failed to completely pierce through. It was stuck inside a layer of armor for the dorsal fin.

Did I mention that this monstrosity was 60 feet in length?

**“AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! IT’S A MEGALODON!!!”** Panic, Digsby, Remy, and myself screamed like little girls. My scream being an especially loud, ear-piercing screech.

“THAT’S HUGE BITCH FISH!!” Borky blurted out with equal fright.

“ _KAMINARI-WANI!!!_ ” Toko screamed at the top of her lungs. A ‘Lightning Shark’. Well named, Toko. That’ll do. I just patted her head to try and calm her, even though I am scared beyond all reason myself.

Task, meanwhile, was vibrating violently, smiling like a lunatic with eyes wide open and full of wonder. “I’m going to hunt the shit out of this shark, and carve out every piece I can get from it!!” Well, at least one of us was extremely happy to be fighting this thing.

“YEEEEEEEEESSSS!!” Takeo grinned wildly as he drew his o-katana. “My blade is going to savor every last drop of blood from this kaiju!” Never mind, make that two.

The Kaminari-Wani opened its jaw as wide as it could, and a glowing ball of energy was building up inside of the mouth. Oh no, it was already attacking! “SCATTER!!” I shouted to everybody. Sure enough, we all started running to different parts of the docks. Keeping a firm grip of Toko’s hand, I dragged her with me and ran as quickly as I could.

Kaminari-Wani chomped down on the sphere of energy and blasted out a wave of lightning, spread in a wide radius. Toko and I just barely escaped its range, pulling my cloak over Toko to protect her from the residual electricity. I could see Panic diving out of the way on the other side, as did Remy. Task, unfortunately, could not escape and curled out into a ball on the ground.

Somehow, the lightning managed to miss him. He poked his head out and looked around to discover that he was completely unharmed. “HA!! You missed!” He taunted the shark.

Kaminari-Wani responded by doing a full 360 degree tail, slapping Task with the full force of his tail and sending our Kobold leader flying across the air and crashing into the wall of a nearby storehouse. Ohhhhh, that definitely looked like it hurt. “OUCH!! You no good, goddamn, cheapshotting, SON OF A--!” He couldn’t finish his sentence as he peeled off the wall and crashed into an empty barrel below.

“Are you both alright?” Digsby could be seen with his back turned against the Kaminari-Wani, using himself as a Tortle shield to protect Borky and Takeo from the blast. “Oof, I’m feeling quite tingly all over.” He dug out a healing potion, popped off the cork, and drank it down quickly. “Ah, much better.” That’s a Paladin for ya. Very durable and difficult to bring down, especially for a Tortle, whose main asset was unmatched defense.

“Thanks a lot, Digs!” Borky stood back up and charged in, “WAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!! WE’RE HAVIN’ SHARK FLAMBE, TONIGHT!!” He let out a battlecry as he went into an Orcish rage, jumping into the air and swung down Raunfalt, smashing into the monster’s right fin. It didn’t break through, but there was a noticeable crunching sound. It was enough to get the shark to freak out and try to slap away Borky.

Takeo simply chuckled as he stood back up, and then let out a maniacal laughter, “Oh, I am definitely going to enjoy this hunt!” He declared as he drew his sword. In a flash, the katana was back in its scabbard, and a streak of flames cut across the nose of the Megalodon, making it fail in pain for a bit as blood was oozing out. Figures he would be the one to draw first blood.

“Fuck you!” Task shouted as he popped out of the barrel, pulling back an arrow with his trusty bow and fired a shot, which hit the protective armor around its eye bounced off. “... Let’s try that again.” He notched another arrow and fired. This time it flew true and… Oof, ouch, this one managed to fly right into the one of the nostrils of the Kaminari-Wani, making it roar and flail its head wildly as it struggled in vain to shake the arrow out. “Got him!” He quickly ducked back into the barrel to hide.

There were several explosions going off on the other side of the Megalodon. I couldn’t see what was going on over there, but I’m guessing Remy and Panic have something to do with it.

Several more harpoons fired from above, some missing while others bounced off the tough armor. Only one or two managed to hit and were struggling to keep the Megalodon held along the dock’s edge. If nothing, at least we have the advantage of overwhelming numbers and tactics to match this Shark’s brutal strength.

With said brute distracted, I looked back to Toko, my hands firmly on her shoulders. “Toko, you need to leave right now.”

“What!?” Toko exclaimed with shock. “But Sensei…” She stopped herself from saying something stupid and shook her head. She knew very well that this was not a mission she should be participating in, even though I’m the one who brought her along thinking it was going to be easy. “I understand.”

“Go find Sebastian or Welch, they’re on top of the wall manning the harpoons.” I ordered her, pointing up to the harpoons. “If you can’t reach them, find a safe place to hide until the fighting’s over.”

“Okay. Be careful out there.” She gave a single nod and went into a sprint, making a dash for the exit, taking the back paths so the Megalodon didn’t spot her and try to attack her. I couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief.

With my student out of harm’s way, I returned my attention to the Kaminari-Wani. I brought my hands together and made three hand signs, “ _Katon no Justu!_ ” and made a circle with my hands, blowing air through them on one side, and a large fire bolt came out the other, breathing on the armored fin.

The monstrosity flapped its fin around wildly as the armor was heated up. Of course, this probably meant that the shark was going to try and get me. I’m not going to give it the chance. I made three more hand signs and shouted, “ _Bunshin no Jutsu!_ ” as I cast Mirror Image and made four illusionary copies of myself. Being a big, dumb beast, this was sure to confuse the Kaminari-Wani quite a bit.

… Or not? The Kaminari-Wani shook wildly until the harpoons that clung on all broke off, turning back to dive into the water and swim away. “No, come back here! I want to know if you’re delicious!” Borky shouted at the creature. It looks like it heard him, because it circled back around and stopped with its dorsal fin facing us.

The water around the creature started to glow a brilliant blue, as electricity started to crackle and rise from the water and met above the dorsal fin, forming a large electric ball.

Oh, you have got to be kidding me!?

As soon as I finish that thought, the ball of electricity blasted out a stream of lightning, going along the water surface and sweeping toward the dock, cutting through the center, going through of the dock’s entryway and blowing up several buildings just outside, continuing upwards and blasting the archway above and reducing it to a falling pile of rubble--

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!” My thoughts were cut short as I heard a girl screaming out from where the gate was. That was Toko’s scream! Dammit, that’s right, that’s she was trying to make an escape!

I looked at the beast out at sea, cursing under my breath as I dropped what I was doing and ran to the source of the scream. The others can handle the Kaminari-Wani, I need to make sure if my student is safe!

Wasn’t really hard to find her either. Her screaming happened right after the gate exploded and collapsed. She was on the ground, clutching one of her legs. “Toko!” I called out to her, rushing over and put my hands around her to help her sit up. I was quickly examining her and… Well, she didn’t take the worst of that attack, to say the least. Her uniform was torn and singed in places, her mask was broken and revealed her left eye and forehead, which was bleeding slightly; as was the leg she was clutching onto.

“I’m so sorry...” She struggled to speak, barely keeping her eye open, tearing up a bit. “He got me at the last moment...”

“Don’t talk like you’re about to die.” I tell her, pulling her mask off and throwing it aside. “Trust me, your injuries aren’t as bad as they look.” I took out a healing potion, yanked off the cork with my beak (spitting it out to the side) and fed it to her right away. “Can you still stand?”

“I-I think so… Ngh...” Toko winced and closed one of her eyes as she was slowly standing back on her feet with me helping her keep stable. Another explosion erupted just outside of the spot we were ducking down under, making us flinch and crouch down it was clear and we could stand back up again.

“Change of plans. You’ll be fighting after all. Stay close to me and use every trick you got. Even a Cantrip can make a huge difference.” I ordered her once more.

“Yes, Sensei! Ngh...” She winced once more, but she was able to shake it off. “Damn… I think I hit my head too hard and hallucinating. I’m seeing doubles of you.”

“You’re fine, those are Mirror Images you’re seeing.” I quickly assured her. She’s definitely still in fighting condition if she can draw attention to that.

Now that my student was safe and back by my side, we both poked our heads out from around the corner, and the battle wasn’t going too well. The shark was still out at sea firing off smaller Lightning Blasts at my heads while dodging the harpoons as the Alivast Guards continued to attempt to spear it and drag it back to land. “We need to get that shark back to land.”

“I have an idea!” Toko exclaimed. I have a bad feeling about this. She brought her hands together and formed three hand signs in succession. The same hand signs I would use in my own techniques. “ _Genjutsu!_ ” She shouted and pointed at an empty space 30 feet ahead with her index and middle fingers. Instantly an image of…

Photorealistic Bird Face.

My student cast Minor Illusion, and she created an illusion in the form of a 5 foot large, morbidly obesse _pigeon_ , fitting on the ground with its head craned further back than it had any right to. “Toko.” I put my hand on her head, “Where did you learn to make something so horrifying?”

“I saw Borky taking care of an equally horrifying but smaller version of that bird.” Toko answered, “I’m hoping to lure the Kaminari-Wani over with something big and meaty.”

“Holy shit, Tubbs has gotten THICC!!” Borky shouted in the distance.

“There is no way this is going to work.” As soon as I said that, the Megalodon popped its head out of the water to see what just suddenly appeared on the docks. It just stared at the Tubbs illusion for a few seconds, licking with its tongue and smacking its lips. I didn’t even know sharks had lips. “Never mind.” I quickly redacted my previous statement, Toko looking back at me with a smirk on her face.

“Incoming!!” Task shouted, getting our attention back on the Kaminari-Wani rushing back to the docks, jumping out of the water bearing its fangs chomped on the illusion. Instead of getting its desired meal, it slammed face first into the stone floor, and looked around, slowly realizing it didn’t get what it wanted as a single tear came out of its shielded eye.

“Oh come on, don’t make me feel guilty for the trick, we’re trying to kill you.” Toko complained to the shark.

“Aim! Fire!!” Corporal Sebastian could be heard shouting from above, as harpoons flew through the air and, this time, several of them managed to make their mark and impale the Megalodon, the sea beast flailing and roaring as the ropes pulled back dragged the beast further in-land.

It was at this moment that all my friends rushed in and just hammered onto the enemy. Borky, Takeo, and Digsby rushed in, Borky thrusting his sword into the Kaminari-Wani’s cheek and slashed outward, followed by two vertical heavy swings, as if Raunfalt was an axe instead of a two-handed sword. Takeo made two slashes of his sword, once again leaving a trail of fire in the wake of his sword slashes and left a rather large x-shaped cut on the Kaminari-Wani. Digsby slapped the shark with the broad side of his axe and the creature suddenly exploded and flailed to the side as it was hit by what I could only assume to be Searing Smite. Ouch.

“Die so I can make you into a trophy already!!” I could hear Task shouting as several arrows came into view, many sinking into the massive body of the shark, though a few bounced off and fell into the water with a plop.

A loud boom erupted on the other side and utterly destroyed the protective armor of the shark’s right fin; the same armor that Borky had attacked earlier. Almost immediately after, the shark was emitting a dark aura and looked tired. Was that from Panic? Did he just cast Bane to weaken the beast?

“Toko, coverfire!” I ordered her, getting out my darts and throwing two of them, both poisoned. They both made their mark by poking into the Kaminari-Wani’s nose, but it doesn’t seem like they were able to do anything to him besides do a bit more damage.

“Hyah!” Toko followed by following a third dart and… a metsubushi bomb?The dart was able to hit the Kaminari-Wani on the lip, or at least where the lips would be, but the metsubushi bomb hit Takeo in the back of the head.

“Agh!?” Takeo roared and looked back at me with a murderous glare. “What was that for!?”

“Th-That was me! _Sumimasen!_ ” Toko quickly responded, putting her hands together and raising them where Takeo could see them. Oh no, my bad luck is rubbing onto Toko.

The Kaminari-Wani roared with sheer rage. It flailed even more wildly, yanking and tugging on the ropes that were keeping it held onto plenty snapped, and some were pulled so hard that the harpoon gunned were ripped from where they stood and fell to the ground. “Look out!” I grabbed Toko and pulled her close, pressing myself to the wall with my cloak pulled over my student to protect her from the falling harpoon gun that fell just 10 feet away from us.

The fallen harpoon gun dragged along the floor, jerking a few times before it took off at full speed, tearing up the ground in its wake as the Megalodon Shark sped off into the sea; the harpoon guns, the ones that didn’t have their lines snap along the way at least, flew over the edges of the docks and sank into the water. Parts of the water around the docks dyed red from the creature’s blood. Was the Kaminari-Wani retreating?

“... Oh no!” Toko gasped as it was looking out to sea. “Everybody, get away from the edges!” She called out to everybody, “The Kaminari-Wani’s up to something!”

“Toko’s right!” Remy called out, “I can see it coming back around! Fall back and regroup!” Everybody quickly ran away from the docks as we could see the Megalodon rushing back in, surface just enough for the top of its body and eyes to be seen.

With incredible speed, and disturbing durability, it rammed right into the docks, making the surrounding area shake and Toko and I, the ones furthest back from the battlefield, stumbled and lost balance, falling onto our butts.  
  
As I was getting back up, the Kaminari-Wani swam wildy and slammed against the docks, reducing the edges into piles of rubble slanting down into the water and smashed up all the piers. Then all of a sudden, it just stopped and glared forward.

“Did it give up yet?” Borky asked. Borky, no! Every time somebody says that it always gets worse!

… And worse it _did_ get. The Kaminari-Wani’s mass rapidly swelled until it reached a certain size. Once achieving its size, it raised its upper body out from the water and blasted out a stream of water from its mouth, sweeping back and forth further ahead with each sweep. Within seconds, the entire dock was covered drenched with water. Just when it looked like it was over, it stopped, it closed its mouth and splashed back down, then flung its upper body back onto land, opening its mouth to charge up a ball of electricity, just like when it first attacked us. But, instead of chomping down, it fired the ball out of its mouth.

The ball of electricity crashed into the wet floor. Suddenly, the electricity surged and scattered, spedilly spreading across everything where the water was, and one such burst was coming right this way!

“Look out!” I grabbed Toko and pushed her away to dry land. I, on the other hand, was not so fortunate, and was immediately electrocuted, shouting in pain as lightning was coursing through my body, wreaking havoc on my nervous system. It was taking everything I had to not let my mind get taken in by the agony. Seconds felt like minutes before the electrocution finally stopped. I stumbled forward, taking several steps before falling onto my hands and knees. Several parts of my uniform were charred black and smoldering. I can even see a few of my feathers falling off. Damnit, that attack really hurt. No doubt that shark got some of the others as well. Just what the hell are we fighting here!?

“Okay, this shark has no business being this smart!” Panic complained someplace nearby. I couldn't agree more with him right now.

“Sensei!!” Toko screamed as she rushed over to my side. She got on her knees and produced a healing potion from her bag, yanking off the cork and holding the potion toward me. “Hang in there! Master Panic! Master Task! … Somebody, please help! Greckles is hurt!”

“It’s alright. I’ve been through far worse than this.” I try to ease Toko’s fright over my getting injured protecting her, taking the potion she held out for me and carefully drank it down. It wasn’t untrue but… Yeah, this was definitely up there. No way I could tell her it wasn’t as bad as it looked. Pretty sure it was just as bad as it looked this time.

“Get that motherfucker!” Task shouted orders to everybody else. Jeez, he’s a lot more foul than he usually is. He’s either extremely excited, or back to being incredibly angry.

“Ngh…!” I winced from the excruciating pain, collapsing onto one knee. Damnit, I’m in no condition to do anything right now. I noticed my student gasping with fright. I raised my hand to her. “It’s okay. I’ll get over this soon. It’s not your fault. Mmmgh...” I let out another groan, keeping my beak firmly shut as I put my hand on my knee and carefully stood back up.

“HOLY SHI--!!”

That was the last I heard of Borky right before the ground shook violently. I stumbled forward, but Toko rushed in and caught me before I could fall down. “I got you, Sensei!” She assured me.

Once the shaking ended, she let go of me and stepped back. We were sighing with relief and flashed a smile to her. “Thanks.” She smiled back and nodded. He poked our head out from our cover and… Everything was mostly quiet. Panic, Task, and Digsby were at the edges of the ruin dock, looking around as if something bad had happened.

I don’t blame them, whatever they’re doing. The Kaminari-Wani was nowhere to be seen. No sign of the shark’s dorsal fin, and the water itself was eerily calm. I patted Toko’s shoulder and, without saying a single word, prompted her to follow me.

We left our cover and walked up to the others. “What happened? Where’s the Kaminari-Wani?” I asked them right away.

“Gone. Along with Borky, Digsby, and that Takeo guy.” Task was snarling as he explained the situation. “Bastard chomped on ‘em and dove into the water with them still in the water. I don’t see Remy anywhere either. He must have gotten dragged down himself.”

“Hello!? Is anybody out there!?” Somebody called out. Wait a minute, that was Remy’s voice! “I could use some help here!”

“Over there!” Panic pointed way out to the side of the harbor. Remy was clinging onto the edge and trying to pull himself out of the water. How did he end up all the way out there!? He’s almost at the end of that part of the docks! We all rushed over, kneeling down and getting a good grip on the Falcon Kenku before pulling him back onto dry land. “What happened? Are the other alright?”

“U-U-Unfortunately, n-n-no.” Remy answered before quickly inhaling and exhaling, breathing into his hands and rubbing them together. “Th-Th-The beast dragged them d-deep under the w-w-w-water, and almost m-myself had I not undone my c-ca-cape. The temperatures are fr-f-f-f-freezing, even by w-winter weather s-standards. I’m sure D-Digsby will be fine, being a s-sturdy Tortle and all, but I-I-I worry for Borky a-and Takeo.”

“For now, let’s worry about you first.” I tell him as soon as he’s done explaining things. I formed three hand signs and put my hands on Remy, “ _Muten no Jutsu._ ” and casted Prestidigitation. It was a cantrip spell, but it was a spell with a surprising number of uses, like instantly drying off Remy to lessen his shivering and suffering from hypothermia. Although he was still shivering, he produced a healing potion and slowly drank it down to recover from his injuries.

“Come on, come on… Gotcha!” I looked and… Wait, what’s Toko doing? I could see her plucking out the wooden remains of the destroyed piers out of the water and putting them in a nearby pile. I could tell he was using Mage’s Hand to collect the broken pieces. I walked over to her. “What are you doing?” I immediately asked her.

“Gathering wood for a fire.” She answered as she seized another piece and added it to the pile. “We just need to dry these off with prestidigitation, light them with a Fire Bolt, and we can help warm up Captain Remy.”

“Hmm… That’s a good idea.” I confirmed Toko’s idea. I didn’t like it, but there was nothing we could do for Borky, Digsby, or Takeo. All we can do is rest and recover and pray they’ll be safe. Borky is far, far more difficult to kill than he looks, and Digsby was no slouch either, especially since he’s a Paladin, and paladins came with their own healing abilities. Takeo, however… No, he strikes me as somebody too bloodthirsty to die. “Guys, over here!” I beckoned over the others. Using Prestidigitation again, I instantly dried off the wooden planks.

“ _Katon no Justu._ ” Toko brought her hands together and gently blew into a hole in her hand, letting out a Fire Bolt of equal, gentle strength until the wood finally caught fire. Everybody sat around the fire. Remy especially kept close, keeping his hands out to try and get warm as quickly as possible.

Task and I kept watch over the water. There was still no activity going on. The water was still, with the light of the glaring and dancing along the surface as if the battle wasn’t happening right now. If there was ever a time to pray for the others to be alright, now was definitely the time. “Think they’re alright, Task?”

“They better be.” Task answered, keeping his bow out and ready at a moment’s notice. “As much as I want to carve that shark until it’s nothing but bones, no trophy is worth losing a friend or trusted ally. As much as Borky pisses me off from time to time, he’s the one that gets everybody laughing. Got plenty of grins and snickers from me, too.”

“I’m sure they are.” I assured him. We fell quiet and kept watching. I would frequently look up at the garrison to see how the Alivast Guard was doing. I was too far away to make out any of the individual members, but they look like they were a chaotic mess, trying to sort out everything now that the harpoon guns are broken. Probably panicking over the citizens that might have been harmed from that lightning blast. The attack cut through the docks and reached all the way into the city. The Alivast Council is not going to be happy, to put it lightly.

“Sensei?” I looked back to see Toko calling to me. She was just as worried as the rest of us. “On a scale of one to ten, how are we doing? I know I sound heartless for asking this, but...”

“It’s fine. We’re used to things like this.” I assured her. “But to answer your question...” I took a moment to think about it. Well, more like a second, it was obvious how well this mission was going. “Ten for generating spectacle, but one for keeping destruction to a minimum. Tomorrow’s Alivast Oracle headlines are going to be a real doozy.”

“If the worst we’re getting out of this is a bad headline, we’re luckier than we have any right to be.” Panic commented, playing on his guitar to try and help alleviate this dreadful atmosphere.

Everything went quiet again. Task and I just kept looking out to the water. Minutes passed, and everything was still quiet. I hate to say it, but--

“Hey! We’ve got activity!” Task smacked my arm with the back of his hand. “Over there!” He pointed to where he was looking. All of us got up and drew out weapons. The waters just outside of the docks were rumbling and churning.

And came next was something I don’t think anybody would believe us if we told them.

A giant orange and purple _toad_ bursting out of the water with the Kaminari-Wani, giving it a swift uppercut punch that sent it flying further into the air before it came crashing back down in a daze. “WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!” Borky, Takeo, and Digsby were shouting with excitement as they were riding on top of the toad until they went splashing back into the water.

“Holy mother of FUCK!!” Task shouted as he was vibrating with excitement, keeping his bow drawn and aimed at the toad as it came swimming to shore. “I’m gonna hunt the shit out of that!”

“Task, no! Borky and the others are riding on top of that!” I quickly intervened and, somehow, managed to get him to lower his bow.

Once the toad stopped, Borky, Takeo, and Digsby slid down back onto land. To say there was relief among the party would be an understatement.

“Master Borky! Saint Digsby! You’re both okay!” Toko was especially happy to see them, dashing past Takeo (who looked utterly dejected) and hugged them. Wait, did she just call Digsby a Saint?

“A Saint? Oh dear, I didn’t know I got promoted.” Digsby said with his usual doopy smile.

“Yo, dudes! Been a while!” The toad spoke up, waving his flipper to us. Wait, was that...!? The toad exploded in a burst of smoke, and as the air cleared up, a clownfish Triton dressed in purple stood before us. He lifted up a hand giving the peace hand sign. “What’s up, bros?”

“Oh goddamnit, I didn't think I'd ever see him again...” Task snarled as he looked at the Triton. Somebody we were very familiar with and hadn’t seen in a very long time. “Can I still shoot him?”

“NO!” We all yelled at him, Toko remained silent and understandably confused. There will be no friendly fire under our watch!

“Sensei, who is this?” Toko asked as we were all looking at the Clownfish Triton.

“This is a friend of ours.” I answered her question, “His name is...” I paused mid-sentence. On second thought, I shouldn’t be the one to introduce him. I looked over to the Triton and gestured a hand to him. “Actually, why don’t you introduce yourself?”

“Sure thing, dude!” The Triton replied. “My name is Zenrio, little dudette. My buds like to call me Zen for short.” He introduced himself to Toko. “I’m a Triton. These, like, radical merfolk who live under the water. I’m a wicked awesome magic-user called a Sorcerer. Although my magic does like to get a little, uh, out of control when I least expect it. I also like drawing.”

“What he’s saying is that he has Wild Magic.” Task explained, “And he’s not kidding when he says it’s out of control. Sometimes it benefits him, and sometimes it’ll completely ruin our day. So if the universe suddenly comes to an end because he sang very badly, you’ll know who to blame.”

“Task, bro, it’s been way too long!” Zenrio looked at the very unhappy kobald with a huge smile, “Get over here and give me a hug!”

“Nononono, don’t you dare--!!” Task tried to get away from Zenrio, but Zenrio was the faster and caught him, pulling him in and holding him in a tight hug. “Get him off me! GET HIM OFF ME!!”

“I’m Toko Amagi, student of Greckles-Sensei, and I work at the Sweet Dragon. It’s nice to meet you.” Toko introduced herself and bowed to the Triton.

“Hello, my name’s Digsby. It’s short for Digsbert. Me mates call me Digs.” Digsby was next to introduce himself to Zenrio. “By the way, have you seen Armsby? I seem to have lost him when you saved us from the shark.”

“Oh! You mean this thing?” Zenrio, in a strange act of dying all laws of physics, pulled out a giant detached tortle arm and placed it on the ground. “Saw it get spat out by the Megalodon.”

“Armsby!” Digsby excitedly walked forward and picked up the limb, but still animate arms. “Oh thank Hoketh you’re alright. Where on Earth have you been, you silly goose?” Armsby started to make a series of hand gestures, charading the story to the main body. “You were inside the Megalodon and choked it by grabbing the uvula? No wonder he let us go so easily. Thank you, Armsby. You’re a true friend.” The animate arm gave a thumbs up. Digsby then popped the arm back onto the main body.

“‘Sup, Digs?” Zenrio let go of Task to give Digsby a handshake. Task quickly scurried away, looking back at Zenrio and hissing for a moment before returning to scurry away.

“So what are you doing here?” I asked Zen. Last we saw of him, he was off training to get his wild magic problem under control, and it’s been at least a year since we saw him.

“Oh, right. About that...” Zenrio pointed back to the Megalodon, which was still limb and floating on the water surface just beyond the docks. Not belly up, unfortunately. It was clear that the uppercut punch Zenrio gave him only dazed him. “Crabbius and I have been trying to deal with this guy for a month, and he’s just like the gnarliest dude, you know? He’s been causing a ton of problems back home. Swimming around menacing all the other fish bros, and even the dolphins are scared of him. By the way, have you seen Crabbius around?”

“ _Itai!!_ ” Toko yelped, lifting up one of her legs in a flinching reaction. “Something pinched me--BY THE KAMI IT’S GOT A KNIFE!!” she ran and quickly hid behind me again, pointing down at a crab that was, indeed, wielding a knife. A flame dagger, actually.

… Wait a minute, I recognize that flame dagger. Is… Is that my old Flametongue Dagger, Kajikiri?

“Crabbius, you’re alright!” Zenrio expressed his delight, running to the crab and picking him up in his hands. “What happened to you, little dude? I lost you there for a minute.” The crab snipped and clacked his free claw. Similar to what Armsby did, Crabbius was conveying his story through a unique language and charades. “Duuuuuude, that’s crazy.”

“That’s… Crabbius?” Toko poked her head out from behind me, raising an eyebrow. Of course, she still kept her guard up and stayed behind me. Well, at least she’s being cautious against an armed stranger. Even if the armed stranger is a crab of all things.

“Yep! His name is Crabbius the Mighty.” Zenrio held Crabbius out to her. “He’s my best bud back home, and a renowned hero across the ocean. If it wasn’t for him, I would never have met all these other bros.” He gestured to all of us.

“... You’re not that mighty.” Toko said to Crabbius. She instantly regretted it when Crabbius pointed Kajikiri at her, “Eep!” scaring her into raising her hands up to her shoulders. “Don’t hurt me! I surrender!”

Crabbius slowly withdrew the dagger, sniping his free claw twice at Toko to warn her to not insult him again.

“Zen...” I spoke to Zenrio. He looked to me with his smile, “How did Crabbius get that dagger? Because I think that used to be mine.”

“Oh, that was yours?” Zenrio look surprised, but he kept smiling. “I was shopping with my mom for some groceries, and I saw this on sale. Let me tell you, bro, that dagger? Makes some really darn good seaweed toast.” I just slapped a talon right onto my face. Oh my gods, my old weapon has been reduced to a kitchen utensil! “Slice off a piece of seaweed bread, and the fire from that dagger gives it a nice golden-brown and brown-green color.” And the other talon slaps onto my face. “Salty and crunchy, the best of both worlds. Makes for a really awesome sword of Crabbius, too.”

“Z-Zen, Zen, Zen… Please stop.” I pleaded to the Triton Sorcerer, “I get it.” Spare my pride as a ninja of this nonsense!

“So what do we do about the overgrown sushi over there?” Takeo pointed out to the ocean.

That was a really good question. It was obvious that we still needed to kill the Kaminari-Wani so it would stop terrorizing the sea. But it was so far out at sea that none of our attacks will reach it, the harpoon guns are basically trash or at the bottom of the bottom, and it’s made such a mess of the docks that all the boats have either been destroyed, capsized, or stuck on land, and our foldable boat, yes, a foldable boat, was back at home because I didn’t think we would need it. We’re stuck as far as I could tell.

“I could always try sniping it.” Task proposed, raising his bow. “It’s a long shot, but it’s also a big target. I could provoke it into coming back here.”

“Why not some live bait?” Borky proposed. We just just gave him neutral stares. “I’m serious here, guys. With all the fighting and wounds it took, it probably wants to eat and recover.”

“In order to catch a beast, you need to think like one. Not bad, Borky.” Task flashed a thumbs up to Borky, who flashed a thumbs up back in kind.

“Unfortunately, that shark isn’t dumb, if the way it soaked the docks to spread its electric breath was anything to go by.” Panic duly noted. I don’t think there was anybody in this group who didn’t notice, and Zenrio and Crabbius were sure to know what the Kaminari-Wani is capable of if they’ve been spending a whole month dealing with him.

“Uh, guys.” Takeo tried to call us, but we didn’t pay him much attention.

“Well I mean, big shark, big stomach, right?” Borky replied, “We could probably bait him with Minor Illusion and Prestidigidigitation to make it smell real good like what Greckles did.” He then pointed a finger at me, “By the way, that wasn’t very nice at all. You know I love Tubbs.”

“Guys.” Takeo called out again.

“Actually, Master Borky, the fat pigeon was my doing.” Toko confessed and raised her hand, “It was the only thing I remotely knew that could attract the Kaminari-Wani’s location.”

“Kaminari-Wani…?” Remy looked to Toko with curiosity.

“It means ‘Electric Shark’ in my native language.” Toko answered--

“GUYS!!” Takeo shouted at the top of his lungs, finally getting us to pay attention to him. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the shark is glowing, and steaming.” He pointed to the Kaminari-Wani.

The Kaminari-Wani’s body was… well… exactly as Takeo put it. Glowing. More specifically, its bones were glowing a very bright neon blue, as were the eyes, and the water around it was evaporating as electricity was crackling around the wounded shark. Ohhhh boy, that’s not good. The shark’s head shook a bit as it was regaining its senses, and glared at us.

“Everybody, get back!” I shouted to everybody, grabbing Toko and pulling her away from the edge while everybody was getting back too.

The shark charged right at us and jumped out of the water! Surprisingly, he didn’t jump close enough to hop onto land. But you know what it did do?

Take a bite out of the harbor itself as if it was bread! _Teeth marks and everything!_

“Holy shit!” Borky and Task exclaimed.

“He can chomp through concrete!?” Panic question with equal fright.

“Run back to the main harbor!” Remy issued the order to everybody. He doesn’t have to tell us twice! As soon as he issued that order, we just bolted back as quickly as we could to escape the Megalodon’s renewed assault!

“Incoming!” Zenrio shouted, pointing back to the shark, as we could see it jump out of the water again and spit out all the debris it had eaten like a spreading projectile attack. Zenrio ducked and covered his head to avoid a large stone, with only small pebbles hitting him. Even Crabbius curled up out of impulse.

Borky and Panic, unfortunately, gotham in several places by smaller rocks; a big one beaning Borky right in the side of the head and break in half until colliding with his thick skull. Task, who was in front of us, got beaned and sent crashing into the back wall. “Motherfucker, not again…!!” He shouted in frustration. That looked like it especially hurt.

Digsby kept running despite the rocks hitting him, completely unphased. Just how durable are Tortles? I’m underestimating how sturdy he is if he can act like the flying debris isn’t even there. Remy raised his shield and smacked away a debris that was coming at him.

“Look out!!” Toko shouted, grabbing me by the front of my cloak and yanked me down into a ducking position. Several pieces of debris flew over us, watching it crash into the back wall. The impact cracked the wall, even. I smiled at my student and patted her on the head as a silent ‘thank you’ for the save before we got back to running.

The ground trembled, as we looked back to see that the Megalodon just chomped through the concrete again! This time it damn near bitten Takeo, who stumbled back and swung his katana to repel the shark. Got him right on the nose, too. “Oh, Hell no! I am not losing my arm again, much less any other part of my body!”

“We’re not going to reach the main harbor like this!” Task called out. I could barely make out his ears from behind some crates. “Everybody hide behind cover! Crate, barrels, warehouse, whatever!”

“Toko, over here!” I ran between a pair of small storage buildings and ducked behind one of them. Toko was close behind and hid behind the other. We took a quick peek, and quickly pulled back as the Kaminari-Wani splash more sea water onto the harbor. Enough to flood to the back, but thankfully not enough to spread the entire area we were hiding in. It was immediately followed up with a lightning breath, spreading and electrifying the water to try and get at us.

“Ah!” Toko took a quick step back to not get shocked. Once the attack ended, she looked down at her Fuuma Shuriken, and then looked up to me. “I don’t mean to dampen our morale, but my equipment is feeling very inadequate right now.”

“Tell me about it.” I agreed with her. There are nine of us, ten if I could Crabbius, and had the Alivast Guard backing us up, and this Megalodon has single-handedly put us on the defense, ruined the plan, and now it’s become a struggle just to survive. “We need to come up with a plan an fast--”

As soon as I said that, there two large explosions of smoke, and from the smoke rose a pair of giant monsters. One was red with yellow-green eyes with a pair of horns; a four-legged, long-necked monstrosity standing tall, and grinning down at the shark. “TASKSAURUS IS BACK, BITCHES!!” the monster shouted with a very deep, surprisingly manly voice. Oh my Gods, that’s Task.

The other monster was a giant crab, its whole body as big as Tasksaurus’s torso, claws and all. Unlike Task, who could still somehow talk in his new form, the crab raised its claws and let out a very crabby roar. That was Crabbius, without a single doubt in my mind.

Ah right, now I remember. This was an old tactic my friends once used to drive out a camp of religious zealots. Killed their leaders by turning two of our friends into… I’ll call them ‘Kaiju’ (‘Strange Beast’), for now, and let them rampage across the camp while everybody else took out the grunts.

And I know exactly who did this. Zenrio with the Twin Polymorph move.

“Never mind, it looks like we already have one.” I grinned as I looked up at Task and Crabbius both roaring at the Kaminari-Wani, who roared back in kind. They both charged into the water and engaged in a 2-vs-1 Kaiju battle, Task opening with jumping and stomping down with his feet, while Crabbius closed one of his claws and punched forward.

“Sensei...” I looked down at Toko. Her eyes were beady black dots and had the tiniest frown on her face. “Your friends are really weird.” Wait, she’s just now noticing that?

“Yes, Toko. Yes they are.” I raised a hand and patted her on the head. “I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

“Okay, holy shit, that was awesome.” I looked back to see Takeo talking with Zenrio, who smiled and raised a hand, leading right into a high-five. And then Takeo suddenly burst into flames. “OH GOD, I’M ON FIRE!! WHAT THE FUCK, TRITON!?”

“Oh crap, I’m so sorry!” Zenrio was now panicking and looking around for something to put Takeo with. “Um…! Uh…! Water! We need water right now, dude!” Yep, there it was. The Wild Magic. Looks like Zen’s been cursed to set anything he touches on fire for the next minute.

“I gotcha!” Panic called out, using prestidigitation to put out the flames and consequently the bandages that used to hide his identity.

Takeo took off his Roningasa hat and waved it around until the last of the fires was finally put out. Thanks to the mishap with Zen’s Wild Magic, we could see what Takeo was, clear as day. A red skin, a pigment almost identical to Task’s red scales, and a pair of small horns poking out from the bangs of his hair. His left arm wore a metal gauntlet, albeit blocky and had a mechanical look to it. No way, is he--!?

“GET OVER HERE!!” Task roared, interrupting my thoughts. He opened his jaw and chomped down on the Kaminari-Wani’s tail, pulled him up with the strength of his long neck, and then flailed his head around, slamming the shark on the opposite side of the harbor several times before throwing him back to our side, creating a wave that splashed across the docks and soaked even more of the ground. “OOPS! SORRY, GUYS!”

Crabbius came scuttling in, grabbing the shark with one of his claws, which pierce into its flesh and proceeded to repeatedly punch the shark, over and over again, and Crabbius looked very angry. By this point, the shark’s armor was thoroughly cracked with large chunks breaking off.

With the monstrosity pinned down, Takeo, Digsby, Borky, and Remy all rushed in to swing their blades with great ferocity. They were absolutely determined to smite this beast. Toko and I came out of hiding, keeping out distance and providing some coverfire for our frontline. “ _Katon no Jutsu!_ ” We shouted in unison, blasting out duel Fire Bolts, watching them hurl across the air, over our friends, and made impact with the Kaminari-Wani.

“This one is for those poor dolphins!” Zenrio shouted as he launched a Chromatic Orb, splashing acid onto the Shark, further destroying what little armor it had left.

“For such a vicious beast, you’re not all that threatening! I’ve fought knife-wielding dolphins that were more of a threat than you!” Panic just adds insult to injury, quite literally in fact, through the power of Vicious Mockery. He’s killed quite a few enemies by simply insulting them. Psychic attacks are no joke.

Unfortunately, it looks like it made the Kaminari-Wani angry, and not in the way that Panic intended! With a loud roar, unleashing a blast of electricity that blew back everybody that had gone into melee combat with it, and broke free of Crabbius’s grip. The shark then looked at me, grinning. Against all laws of physics, it jumped toward me, making the ground shake upon land, pulling back its tail and raising it slightly to wind up a bit more.

“Sensei, look out!” Toko screamed. Before I even had a chance to look at her, she stood in front and pushed me back as hard as she could. I stumbled backwards by about ten feet and fell onto my bird butt.

I could watch helplessly, as Toko quickly turned back around and was immediately slapped by the Kaminari-Wani’s tail. She was letting out a horrible scream that, for a moment, made my heart stop, and time slowed down to a crawl as I could do nothing but watch her soar through the air and crash into the water. “TOKO!!” Somehow, I had found the strength to call out to her, reaching my hand as she sank below.

I looked at the Kaminari-Wani, gritting my beak. My pillage was poofed out to the very tips, as my blood was boiling, and my adrenaline was racing like it had never raced before. There were very, very few enemies that I have faced that have made me feel this way, and this one just reached the top!

… I shook my head. No, I have to remain composed. Toko needs help. She won’t last long as she stays in the water, the winter weather is the time when the water is at its coldest and anybody who falls in can easily freeze to death. I looked to the Kaminari-Wani one more time, before rushing to the water, and dove in head first.

I am no exception to freezing to death, but my feathers will help me last a bit longer than normal. Of course, it didn’t change the fact that as soon as I was in the water, I was greeted by an overwhelming chill, embracing me and immediately making me shiver and trying to sap out all the heat from my body. Just off to my side, I could see Tasksaurus’s legs slowly moving through the water, and the water from above let me see the shadow of the Kaminari-Wani, Crabbius, and Task, as they were reengaging combat.

Just about 20 feet ahead, I could see Toko, slowly sinking to the bottom. I swam forward as quickly as I could. Albeit carefully, as the water loved to slow down anybody that tried to move frantically. Buoyancy is a pain in the butt like that.

I reached Toko when she was halfway to touching the bottom, pulling her into my arms, and then swam up as I held my student firm in one arm. We breached the surface of the water, gasping for air the moment we could feel the blistering cold wind against our faces. I looked down to make sure Toko was okay. Her eyes were closed, but she was gasping and coughing. At least I knew she didn’t breath in too much salt water.

A roar echoed across the harbor, getting my attention. I came up just in time to witness the Kaminari-Wani get stomped down by Task, pinning it down to the ground. Crabbius helped by grabbing the tail and neck of the shark to make it stop struggling.

Crabbius’s grip on the neck tightened, and became tighter, and tighter, until it was cut into its flesh and snapped its bone clean off, decapitating the beast. The head launched forward by ten feet as a burst of blood blasted out of the main body. The body flailed violently in response to the loss of its head, until it finally stopped and lied still.

King Crabbius and Tasksaurus let out a victorious roar in unison, before both Kaiju exploded into smoke. Task, now back to a normal Kobold, was standing on the harbor screaming something happy and jumping about. I couldn’t see Crabbius anywhere, but I could safely assume he’s back in Zen’s hands.

And that is how the Kaminari-Wani met its end.

But there was no time for me to celebrate. Toko and I were still in the water freezing to death. I swam forward toward the dock, taking advantage of the damage and rubble to climb back onto dry land. “Hang in there, Toko. You’re going to survive.” I told her, trying to keep calm as I knew damn well that her life was far from safe.

I used Prestidigitation to instantly dry myself off, as well as Toko, who was still shivering. I carefully removed my cloak and lied on the ground, followed by my student. “S-S-Sensei...” She called out weakly. “A-Are you o-okay?”

“I’m just fine.” I answered her as I carefully wrapped my cloak around her, keeping it as tight and tucked in around her to help keep her warm. She was worried about my safety, even at a time like this. It spoke volumes of how empathetic she was. I wanted to scold her so badly for what she had done, putting herself in danger like that. But I can’t. I shouldn’t. She risked her life in order to save mine, and that’s all that mattered right now. Of course, it didn’t change the fact that she took a devastating blow. It’s amazing it didn’t kill her in one blow.

I’m not sure what good it will do, but I pulled out another healing potion and pulled off the cork. “Drink this.” I carefully held it to my student’s lips, slowly tilting the potion and her head so she could safely drink the potion and allow it to do its thing and heal her injuries, until the entire flask was empty. “Now rest. You’ve gone through far more than I had intended to.” I ordered her, keeping her in my arms, watching her nod her head and closed her eyes. It wasn’t long before she passed out, no doubt exhausted from her first battle as part of The Unexpectables.

I picked her up in my arms and began my trek to reunite with the others. This was going to be one heck of an explanation to give to the guys.


	8. A Day of Respite

“Hey, Greckles! … Greckles? … GRECKLES!!”

“Dah!” I gasped, shaking my head before I looked around to see who was calling out to me. A hand patted my right shoulder, prompting me to look and see Panic was looking at me. “Oh, Panic. Sorry, I kind of zoned out.”

“Are you alright?” He asked me. The concerned expression he was giving me could not have been any more clearer. “You’ve been down here all night and all morning. You were even sleeping against the bartable. You weren’t drinking, were you?”

“No, Panic. Especially when one of us needs to stay sober in case Borky gets drunk off his butt again.” I cracked a bad joke and chuckled a bit. “No, it’s… Toko.” I sighed and rested her forehead against my hand. “I can’t believe I let her get hurt like that. She nearly died saving me from an attack I could have easily avoided, but I just stood there like a dope and she paid for it.”

“What’s done is done.” Panic patted my back as he tried to comfort me. “Yes, what happened to her was beyond unfortunate. Tragic, even. But she’s still alive, and in the care of Willow. She’s going to be fine, Greckles. She’s going to live.”

I couldn’t help but groan at the mention of that name. Oh Gods, I still remember what happened last night. I rushed back to the Sweet Dragon along with Panic, Remy, and Takeo, while everybody else stayed behind to take care of the remains of the Kaminari-Wani. Toko was still wrapped in my cloak and in my arms, badly hurt and shivering. Willow was the first person we bumped into. She was shocked and horrified what happened to Toko and immediately took her from my arms and brought her to the Arcanium Tower that was built adjacent to our tavern. Gave me one Hell of a scolding for bringing such a small child to a dangerous battle, too. She wouldn’t let any of us in to help, she was positively furious.

“Come on, don’t make that kind of face. We have Task for that.” Panic took a jab at the leader of our group. It managed to get a chuckle out of me.

“Fuck you too, Panic!” Task shouted from the background, “Love you like a brother!”

“‘Eeeeey!” Panic responded back by giving the Kobold Ranger the finger crossbows before he brought his attention back to me. “Look, why don’t you try paying Willow a visit again? She’s had more than enough time to calm down, and you might even be allowed to see Toko.”

“... You know, Panic, you’re right.” I smiled at him and stood up. “I’m going to give them a visit, and I’ll bet my bottom Gold piece that Toko will be happy to see me again. Thanks for the talk.” I raised my fist to him, and he bumped his fist against mine. With my spirit renewed, I marched up stairs and stood in front of the door to the Arcanium, and knocked on it several times.

It wasn’t long before the door was opened. A positively exhausted female human wizard stood in front of me, holding her glasses with one hand and rubbing her tired eyes. She was dressed in purple robes with golden trim. Willow ‘Greyscale’, one of the first employees we’ve ever met, one of our most trusted friends in all of Alivast, and wife to Doros Greyscale, the Captain of the Alivast Guard’s Lower District. Aaaaand she’s scowling at me.

“Hello, Greckles.” Willow greeted me. And as bitter with me as she is sleep deprived. Panic was wrong, her rage has transformed into a calm fury.

I cleared my throat real quick before speaking up, “Hello, Willow.” I returned the greeting. “How has Toko been doing? Is it alright for me to visit her?”

Willow sighed as she put her glasses back on. “I’m still mad about what happened. Sending somebody so small and weak to fight something so big and violent. I don’t know the full details yet, I just know that it got out of control very quickly, and Toko told me you ordered her to get out of there immediately and she couldn’t...” She started to yell at me again for the incident, adjusting her glasses and straightening her posture. Yeah, figured this might happen. I’m just glad she’s not unleashing her full indignation upon my bird butt. “But I know you’re just as worried about your student as much as I am, and I’ve only spoken with her twice now.” Ah right, Toko did say she went to Willow before. If I remember correctly, she was looking for a way to improve her magical prowess and turned to her for help. But Willow specializes in potions making and magical items, and even then Willow doesn’t use illusion magic and trickery like Toko and I were trained for. “Come on in. I’ll take you to her.”

“Thank you.” I bowed to her and walked right on in. “Just how is Toko? She’s not suffering, is she?” I asked right out of the gate. Willow was more than capable of helping an injured patient, especially given her potion making skills, but my mind was screaming at me to know of my student’s well-being as soon as possible.

“Thankfully, no.” Willow answered. That is such a tremendous relief to hear. “A few cuts here and there. They looked like something she received from flying debris, but it’s nothing that a few bandages, a potion, and a few night’s rest can’t fix. Although her entire right side took the most damage. The good news is that none of her bones are broken, but she’s in no condition to be going anywhere except back to her own bed.” That, unfortunately, was not a surprise, considering that’s where she was struck when the Megalodon swung its tail. “All that’s left is to keep her warm and drink plenty of hot beverages. It’s a miracle she didn’t get hypothermia from falling into the ocean.” No kidding. I got out okay because I had my feathers. But Toko, a human, is nothing but skin. She had about as much resistance against the cold as Task, cold-blooded creature, did. It helps that we didn’t stay in the water for very long.

“What about her condition?” I asked.

“She’s perfectly stable.” Willow gave me a smile as she said that. “Her life isn’t in any danger. All that’s left for her is to rest and recover. And speaking of whom...” We stood in front of a door. She took hold of the door knob and turned it, pushing the door open. “Toko, you teacher is--”   
  
“Waaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!” Aaaand there goes the serious atmosphere. Lying in Willow’s bed was none other than Toko, hugging a pillow and ugly crying right into it. She was wearing common clothes, and I could see that her entire right arm was covered in bandages. It might be safe to assume that it was the same for her leg as well. There were even bandages wrapped over her head. That was most likely for the head injury she received when her only escape route was cut off during the battle.

Yeah, she’s definitely in the clear if she has the energy to scream and cry like this.

It certainly startled Willow, though. She ran right over and sat down next to my student to comfort her with a hug. “Toko, sweetie, what’s wrong? Why are you crying?”

“That!” Toko pointed to something lying in the corner of the bed. A newspaper from the Alivast Oracle? “That’s what’s wrong! I’m on the front page! Sensei, you were wrong, we didn’t just get a bad headline! They’re calling me a menace!”

“Oh boy, this I’ve got to see.” I let out an exasperated sigh and picked up the newspaper. Let’s see what it reads here. “Unexpectables Interrupted by Incompetent Masked Vigilante, written by B. Barnard Bartholomew… Oh boy, we’re off to a good started.” I cracked a grin at that headline. “Masked man dressed in pink--Gods dammit...” I facepalmed. Of course they would bring up her pink ninja uniform. I took my hand off, shook my head in disappointment, and kept on reading. “Masked man dressed in pink interferes in official Alivast Guard and Unexpectables business as they attempt to neutralize a giant lightning-powered Megalodon shark that had been attacking and sinking ships. Thanks to his bumbling attempts to be a hero, the Alivast Guard and Unexpectables were unable to keep damage to docks a minimum.” Wow, this author sounds like an asshole. Wait a minute, did this B. Barnard Bartholomew addressed Toko as a man?

“Due to the destruction to the docks, trading companies will be suffering for the next few weeks. And the Winter Festival, which was thankfully not cancelled, is delayed for the foreseeable future.” I continued reading. Although it was only making Toko cry harder. Yeah, I should stop reading. “This author is an asshole. But it sounds like your identity is safe. According to this article, none of the witnesses recognized your face, and they think you’re a man. There’s no mention of your name, either. You just need to avoid wearing pink from now” And bless the Gods, I always hated Toko’s ninja uniform. Real ninjas wear blue!

“Sensei, you don’t understand.” Toko looked at me with her sad, puppy dog eyes, tears still rolling down her cheeks. Gods dammit, the sight of her looking so sad is breaking my heart. “I have a reputation now.” She sniffled as she explained why she’s crying. “A reputation was the last thing that I wanted, and they all hate me now.”

I just sighed and smiled, setting down the paper and moved around the bed so I could sit down next to Toko, opposite of where Willow was sitting. “Alright, alright, wipe those tears and come here.” I told my student, putting an arm around her and wipe the tear streams off of her face. No pupil of mine should be bawling this much. “Willow, could you give us a moment?”

“Sure thing. I’ll be outside if you need me.” Willow stood up and left the room.

I looked back down at Toko. She looked so miserable, like she had completely and utterly failed as a shinobi. “What happened wasn’t your fault.” I began to talk with her. “These things happen. Sometimes, they’re just inevitable, out of our control.” I chuckled a bit as soon as I said that, “Especially in places as crazy as Alivast. I don’t think any of us were prepared to fight a Megalodon, of all things.”

“I still held everybody back.” Toko mumbled, “I barely did anything, and you had to waste time helping me instead of your friends.”

“Okay, stop right there.” I immediately interjected. “It was my call for you to retreat, so the responsibility fell on me. None of us expected the Kaminari-Wani to take out the gates like that.” She closed her eyes and slowly shook her head. I let out an exaggerated sigh and pulled her close, putting my arms around her into a hug. “You’re being too harsh on yourself. You need to forgive yourself, Toko.”

Somehow, that got her to form a tiny smile on her face. “... Captain Remy told me I should forgive myself, too.” She started to talk again. “It was a few weeks ago when my shoulder was hurt. He said I would grow stronger for it.”

“And he’s right.” I confirmed Remy’s advice with a nod. “Just look at me. You’ve been here long enough to know that I’m a walking magnet for trouble and bad luck, especially when doing jobs, and yet I’m still moving forward.”

Toko remained silent, leaning against me. I simply responded by patting her on the head. “Just try to rest up and recover for now. I guarantee you, the next mission won’t be so insane. It’ll be hard to top an angry electric megalodon, that’s for certain.”

“Thank you, Greckles-Sensei.” Toko spoke. I helped her lie back down in the bed. She was lying on her left side. She’s still going out of her way to tuck and protect her heart in the event of an ambush, even though the chances of that are incredibly low, if not nonexistent.

With my student sound asleep, I quietly left the room, carefully closing the door to not disturb her. Willow was standing right next to me. She must have overheard the whole conversation. Well, it was nothing I should be worried about, she was just as concerned for Toko’s well-being as I am. “Thanks for looking after her for me, Willow.”

“It’s not a problem at all.” Willow responded, looking much calmer and happier. “You know, you make for a pretty good father figure. You practically treat her like she’s your own daughter.” And that just earned her a Photorealistic Bird Face from me. She chuckled a bit at my reaction. “I’m joking, I’m joking.” She handwaved the comment away. That’s not funny. I cannot imagine myself being a parent at all, much less a decent parent. “Come on, stop making that face, it’ll freeze if you keep it that way.”

I shook my head until it was back to normal. “A-Anyway, make sure she doesn’t nap for too long.” I tell Willow. She just grinned at me. Don’t you dare make another parent joke at me, Willow. Although, one thought did come to my mind. “By the way, has Toko eaten yet?”   
  
“Not since breakfast, no.” Willow replied, “She’s probably going to be hungry again soon, but I’m not sure what kind of food she likes to eat. Just that she wants to avoid carrots at all costs.” Can’t say I blame her. Task tricked her into eating carrot bread and that had her on the floor with a mother of a stomach ache.

Still, this is good news. This means I can do something for her while she’s recovering. “I’m going to get her lunch. I’ll be back soon.” I waved to her goodbye and returned to the hallways, then descended the staircase down to the tavern, and headed for the front door. “I’m going to the Tiger Restaurant! I’ll be back soon!” I shout out to my friends.

“I’m going with you.” I look back. Somebody spoke to me just as I had my hand on the door. It was Takeo, the red oni that was previously covered in bandages, but was forced to reveal himself during yesterday’s battle. “It’s the least I can do after what happened yesterday.” He says as though he’s responsible for what happened, when all he was doing was striking down the monstrosity with the others.

“Alright.” I simply nodded and walked out the door, Takeo following close behind. This also works out perfectly fine for me. I had a lot of questions to ask Takeo. Especially when he was an Oni, an embodiment of everything the Eastern Isles considered evil and immoral, one of their most identifying traits is their insatiable hunger for the flesh of Humans and Kenku alike. But Takeo doesn’t really exhibit such traits, and even without his bandages, he still strongly resembled a Half-Orc. Not to mention that shiny gauntlet covering his left arm. Actually, a ‘gauntlet’ isn’t exactly it. It looked more like it was part of his body. A prosthetic, from the way it looked. It was too blocky to be considered armor.

“So...” I began the conversation, keeping my voice down so that nobody could hear. “You’re an Oni, huh?”

“ _ Half- _ Oni.” Takeo said with equal harshness to my own. “Like a Half-Orc, except with an Oni. I don’t really know the circumstances of my birth, since I spent most of my life in a Monk temple. It’s the reason why I had to keep myself covered up in bandages. Guess I didn’t have to worry as much as I had to here. Your friend Borky asked me if I was a red-skinned Half-Orc.”   
  
“Pfft--!!‘ I put a hand around my beak to try and contain my laughter. “Let me guess, you just rolled with it?”

“Pretty much. I said yes and he was so wowed that he said that’s crazy.” Takeo grinned and chuckled. Okay, that smile is legitimately scary. His face looks like a Hannya Mask. Like, the actual mask, except it doesn’t need to be at different angles to express emotion. “Your friend Task told me to be patient with him. But considering how stupid he is, I don’t think patience will be a problem for me. It’s pretty fun to mess with him.”

“I wouldn’t really say stupid.” I responded with a shrug. “More unwise or ditzy. I’ve seen him display a frightening amount of intelligence in my adventures with him. No joke, he was successfully diplomatic with two Orc Tribes. One is in the trading business with Alivast, and the other he took over when their leader was being an asshole. Drew his sword and showed him what, and I quote, ‘a real fucking orc’ looked like.”

“Pretty sure diplomacy fails if you use violence.” Takeo noted.

I chuckled and simply replied, “Not to an Orc it’s not.”

“But back to my… bloodline.” Takeo turned the subject back to himself. “I take it you have a problem with Oni like the rest of the Eastern Isles?”

“Hard not to, when Oni were considered the embodiment of everything evil and immoral in our culture. Not to mention man-eaters.” I answered him.

“Well, you won’t have any problems with that last one. Just being an Oni in body alone is a pain in the ass, although I’ve appreciated what I have. It’s just the people around me that I take issue with. But again, I practically fit in here with this city of weirdos.”

“And the metal arm?” I pointed to the block piece of metal attached to him. “What’s the story behind that?”

“Ah, my prosthetic.” Takeo held up the metal arm and looked down to it. “It’s a prosthetic I had gotten a few months back. Lost my real arm to some shinobi when I was crossing over a bridge. Got hit by a poison dart, and then they took out the bridge, sending me right into the ocean below. A nearby ship saved me, but the doctor had to cut off my arm before the poison could infect the rest of my body, and the arm itself became too infected for a simple antidote to fix. The prosthetic came along much later, when a client hired me to do a job and this was their upfront payment.” I winced at the poisoning and losing his arm. That definitely sounded like he had a horrible time, and that was an understatement. “I still remember the name of the bastard who took my arm from me. His name was--”

A random human rushed past us, bumping right between us along the way. “Whoa! Hey, watch it, jackass!!” Takeo roared at the human and shook his prosthetic fist at the guy. We quickly checked ourselves to make sure we weren’t pickpocketed. Thankfully, we were not.

“Forget about him.” I told my companion, patting him on the shoulder and we resumed walking. “He’s just in a rush. The Winter Festival got delayed thanks to the Kaminari-Wani turning the docks into a warzone, so everybody’s kind of on edge and trying to get everything done while there’s still time.”

“Tch...” Takeo gritted his teeth in clear agitation, but we continued to head to the Tiger Restaurant. “Hmm… Miso Salmon sounds pretty good right now. A hot broiled meal, perfect on a cold day like this. What about you?”

“Kraken Sushi and Aboleth Sushi is my favorite.” I answered, “Although I might keep it simple this time and get some beef stir-fry. For Toko… Some white rice and ginger pork might be the best choice. Simple, won’t make her bed a mess, and it’ll help her heal faster.”

“Why not get some Oden or Congee?” Takeo asked.

I looked up to him and simply shook my head. “That’s comfort food, Takeo-san. Besides, Toko is injured, not suffering a cold.”

“Didn’t she fall into the freezing ocean though?” Takeo asked, “I figured she would have gotten sick after being in the water.”

“She’s a tough kid.” I simply replied, “Far tougher than any kunoichi her age would be.”

“Hard to tell with how easily angered she can be.” Takeo grinned and chuckled again. Um, excuse me, but isn’t she easily angered because you keep teasing her and calling her a ‘baby ninja’? Taking direct shots at her pride there, buddy. “And she cries whenever she screws up.”

“Just as easy to cheer up and motivate.” I retorted, “She’s no whiner. I just wish I knew what her previous training was like, because I can’t help but notice that her training looks like she’s trying to get it right on the first try.”

“Ninjas...” Takeo rolled his eyes, “Strangely determined for a clan of cowards.” Ohhhh, that hits a sore spot. I could go all day on him with how ninjas aren’t cowards so much they don’t give two flights of a crap about being honorable and prioritize pragmatism to the highest degree.

But now is not the time. We finally got to the Tiger Restaurant. As soon as I took a step inside, my nose was met with the delicious smell of food being cooked. The wonderful scent of Eastern Isle sauces and spices in the air. The nostalgia of my homeland was almost too much for my bird brain to handle. It has been far too long since the last time I came here.

_ “Welcome, welcome!”  _ A rooster Kenku greeted us once we were through the front door in Avian. Ah, Mr. Bwakkaw himself. The man, the legend, and the proud owner of the Tiger Restaurant. “ _ Ah,  _ Greckles-san!  _ It’s been too long since I saw you. _ ” He said to me with a big smile on his face.  _ “What can I make for you? Kraken Sushi again?” _

_ “Maybe next time.”  _ I replied back in Avian,  _ “I’ll have some Beef Stir-Fry, and ginger pork with white rice to go for my apprentice.”  _ I gave him my order. He let out a hearty laugh as I explained what the rice and pork was for.

_ “You have an apprentice? Somebody’s finally moving up in the world.”  _ I just cracked a slight grin. Pretty sure I was blushing a bit too. I normally didn’t like being teased like this, but coming from Mr. Bwakkaw, who was a father raising a daughter, it felt very endearing.

_ “I’ll have some Miso Salmon, and some Kraken Sushi.”  _ Takeo merely ordered, keeping to himself. Well that attitude took a one-eighty if I ever saw one.

_ “Coming right up.”  _ Mr. Bwakkaw acknowledged our orders and went into the kitchen to start making our meals. Until then, we both took our seat and waited patiently. I feel like I’m forgetting something from the conversation I was having with Takeo earlier. Ah well, I’m sure it wasn’t anything important.

We just sat there quietly, giving each other passing glances now and again. It felt like a contest of who is better at being mysterious and brooding. Foolish Half-Oni, I’ve been brooding since the day I was hatched. I’ll show him how a real man broods.

He crossed his arms and stood up straight, stroking his chin while holding a stoic as stone expression. Oh, well played. But I can top that. I leaned forward, placing my elbows on the counter’s edge, keeping my hands together and holding them at beak level, staring straight ahead to nothing in particular while keeping my head ever-so-slightly lowered. Yes, the perfect counter to Takeo’s chin stroking antics: The ‘Gendo.’ I am a brooding genius.

Unfortunately, our contest will have to go without a winner, as Mr. Bwakkaw came back with our order. We quickly snapped out of it and returned to our normal postures before he saw anything weird. Hopefully he didn’t see anything weird, but the smirk on his face had me worried.

_ “Here you go boys.”  _ Mr. Bwakkaw said as he put a trio of rather large takeout boxes in front of us, stacked on top of each other and secured with rope on all four sides, meeting at the top in a bowtie.  _ “The stir fry is on top and the ginger pork with rice in the middle. The salmon and sushi are on the bottom.” _

_ “Thank you very much.”  _ I bowed courteously to the chef kenku, paying for mine and Toko’s meals. Takeo paid for his own. Seems like being the Sweet Dragon’s unofficial bouncer and doing small quests is serving him well.  _ “Come again, soon, ya hear?” _

I waved at Mr. Bwakkaw and we both made our way back to the Sweet Dragon. We were quiet for a few minutes before I broke the silence. “So Takeo-san, about the job you took.” I don’t suppose you would be okay with telling me what this job was?”

“Not at all.” Takeo answered, “A ninja clan hired me anon.” he began his explanation of what was going on. Although the fact it’s a ninja clan is already raising several red flags. “Apparently, there’s a traitor who fled their clan. According to their sources, she’s still young and was making her way here. Would be nice if they told me what her name was, but they strongly insisted that this job is to be kept as confidential as possible. Didn’t even tell me what clan they were from.” Okay, that went from red flags to straight up alarm bells.

“... For the sake of avoiding unnecessary paranoia, you don’t think the traitor might be Toko, do you?” I asked him right away. My brain was already trying to go through as many scenarios as possible, just in case it turns out that she was precisely who he was looking for.

Takeo simply laughed. “Oh please. Toko has a very strong spirit, and plenty of potential she can unlock, but she’s still a weakling. She can’t even keep calm whenever I tease her.” He was still chuckling as he dismissed the very idea that Toko could become a Nukenin. That’s… Actually kind of a blessing. It was probably for the best that he didn’t know that Toko is, in fact, a Nukenin. “Besides, a kid like her is too smart to do something so stupid and dangerous, much less try to make the six month journey from the Isles all the way to here.” I take it back, this was absolutely a blessing that he doesn’t know, and he must  _ never _ know.

Then again, I doubt the Shinokaze would hire somebody this open about their latest line of work. Hopefully it was just some other idiot shinobi he was looking for. Although they did hire Meathead, and he was even dumber than Borky.

We made our way back to the Sweet Dragon. Just in time to see Borky having a wrestling match with one of the Dwarf. Damn tough one too, because he was locked in a stalemate the big guy and they were both sweating something fierce. Task was standing next to Borky cheering him on. Meanwhile, Panic was up on stage having dueling musicians with another bard, and they both looked like they were having a blast.

I sorted out the boxes, remembering to give the bottom one to Takeo, which he accepted and returned to his usual table.

As for me, it was pretty obvious. I took the remaining two and headed back up to Willow’s Arcanum Tower, making sure to greet her and she let me back in to see Toko. Oh good, my student is awake, although she was massaging her bandaged up arm. “I’m back, kiddo.” I greeted her with a smile. “Is your arm hurting again?”

“Yeah.” Toko said with a nod, “It’s keeping me from resting.”

“It’s nothing serious, Greckles.” Willow quickly interjected. “I examined it just before you returned. No wounds have reopened or anything serious like that. It’s probably just her body trying to heal and it hit a sore spot.”

“You know a lot about the body for specializing in potions and magical items.” I said to her, but kept a friendly smile.

Willow responded by standing proud, puffing out her chest and putting her hands on her hips. “No self-respecting potion maker wouldn’t dare dabble in alchemy without understanding even the most basic fundamentals of biology. An ingredient for every slight or injury to the body.”

“Well, I certainly have something to help Toko heal faster.” I turned my attention back to the girl in bed and gave her the bottom box. “I bought us some lunch from the Tiger Restaurant. I hope you like it. It’s ginger pork and white rice. It’s not fancy, but it’ll certainly keep your energy up and help you recover.”

Toko accepted the box and took a big sniff of the box. “Mmmm, it smells so good. I haven’t even opened the box yet and I can smell the food inside. I can’t wait to eat, I’m starving~!”   
  
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, not in bed you’re not.” Willow interjected very quickly. “There’s a table just outside the room you can both use. Come on, I’ll help you out.” Man, she’s really taking charge as Toko’s caretaker. She helped her get out of bed, making sure the takeout box wasn't dropped by accident, and then carefully placed it on top of the newspaper on the nightstand, just to be safe.

I wasn’t wrong when I said bandages covered Toko’s lower half. Her entire right leg was covered in bandages, while the left leg only had some bandages around the knee and ankle. Willow wasn’t joking when she said it was Toko’s entire right side was where she took most of the damage, but seeing it for myself almost made me wince. Poor girl was limping a bit as Willow picked up her lunch and they both walked out of the room. I followed behind them, keeping my lunch well in hand.

We were brought to the table and ate lunch together. As soon as we opened the boxes, we were greeted by the savory smell of our food. Mr. Bwakkaw was thinking ahead. He put a pair of chopsticks in the boxes for Toko and I to use. My stir fry was just… Oh man, looking at it was making me super hungry now. Long, thin cuts of well-cooked beef in teriyaki sauce that was giving off a golden-brown hue. Carrots, cabbage, and bean sprouts added into the mix, with white rice pile in another space in the box so it doesn’t get mixed in with the rest of my food. Gods help me, this is why I love Mr. Bwakkaw’s cooking. It looks delicious, and the flavor is even more delicious. A perfect combination of sweet and savory, the meat cooked to perfection, and the vegetables still had their crunchy texture despite being exposed to the heat and sauce for so long.   
  
Toko’s smile was positively radiant as she was already eating her ginger park. It’s nice to know she’s doing so well in spite of her present condition. She opened her eyes and leaned to the side a bit to see what I was eating. “You got beef stir fry!? Ohhhh, no fair!” She glared at me with a pout. “All I got is pork and rice, and here you are eating like an emperor.”

“I’m not sharing it if that’s what you’re expecting.” I replied, calling her out on her frustration. “Besides, there are carrots mixed in. I’d rather not have a repeat of the carrot bread incident.” That got Toko to shudder and return to simply eating her meal without any argument. “By the way...” I continued the conversation, “I was thinking we got back to your training once you’ve recovered. What’s the first thing you want to do?”

“You’re letting me decide?” Toko asked me, knowing that it doesn’t really need an answer. “Well, Some dart throwing and exercise would be a good place to start. It would help me get my strength back.” She said as she was trying to think, eating some rice before continuing, “Although learning arcane arts is just as important. It’s a very necessary toolkit for ninjas to have, on top of being sneaky and cunning.” Well, she’s certainly not wrong about that. “Well, there’s plenty of time for me to think about it. I can barely walk as I am right now. How are the others doing, Sensei? My condition must have given them a terrible scare.” She asked me. Sheesh, that’s kind of a jarring change of subject.

“They’re doing fine.” I answered her, “Borky and Task are being, well, Borky and Task. Panic was having a musical duel with another bard, and Takeo is...” I hesitated for a moment, remembering what he told me on the way back from the Tiger Restaurant. “Well, he’s doing his job as a fellow guard.”

“Sensei? Are you alright?” Toko looked at me with worry, tilting her head slightly.

Checking to make sure Willow wasn’t listening in, I gestured to her to come closer, and whispered into her ear. “We need to watch out for Takeo. He told me he was hired by a ninja clan to search and kill a Nukenin.”

Toko inhaled sharply and tensed up. I don’t blame, considering what happened the last time a mercenary was sent after her. “Does he know about… y’know...”

“No, he doesn’t think it’s you.” I quickly told her to She doesn’t start freaking out. “ He thinks you’re too smart to desert your clan, and too weak to have made the journey to Alivast. I know that must be insulting, but let him keep that train of thought. We don’t even know if it’s the Shinokaze Clan. Not even he knows who specifically hired him. Just to find the traitor, kill them, and keep it a low profile.”

“He doesn’t really care for subtlety if he willingly told you.” Toko commented. It’s true that Takeo wasn’t wise to tell me. But he’s no fool. He probably disclosed that info because it’s just vague enough to not lead back to his client or get him in trouble with the authorities. It is a criminal he’s searching for, after all.

“For now, let’s keep this to ourselves.” I told Toko, who nodded back in response. Looks like she instantly understood my reasoning. If we let the others in on this, they’ll get suspicious of him. That, in turn, will make Takeo suspicious and realize that something is up. Plus, some of us are not very good at keeping secrets and might blabber it out to him by accident. And all of us have secrets that we’re still keeping from each other, if for nothing else than respect for our privacy. “Come on, our lunch is getting cold, and it doesn’t taste good when it’s cold.”

“Agreed.” Toko nodded her head.

We resumed eating our meals and--

Gods be praised, how can this taste so good!? Our faces were bright and rosy as we were overtaken by the myriad of flavor.

“DAMN, THAT’S GOOD!!” Takeo can be heard downstairs, clearly enjoying his meal.


End file.
